Chief Joseph

Chief Joseph a translation of his real name is "Thunder Rolling Down the Mountain". He was considered as a  great Chief of the Nez Perce  tribe during a tough time at war with the US and forced from their ancestral homelands . 

 I used several old photos as reference for this. His face from one and the headdress is stylized from another picture. I looked at other photos to of  Chief Joseph to help me make a work of  art that I was happy with.

 

 While I was drawing and shading each feather I started thinking and remembering that many tribes at puberty a male child under goes a rite of passage to prove he is a man.  When passing the trials he gets to wear a feather.  Every notable even of heroism or feat of skill or strength was quite literally a feather in his cap.  Just like our soldiers of today with their chest full of shining buttons and pins and medals  . These headdresses were a display of  heroism not just prettys .  

Was this feather for victory in unarmed combat , a successful raid , a touche of a armed rivals and not being hurt, or stealing cavalry horses as the calvary slept or was this one from his rights of passage so long ago.  Thats some of the thoughts that travels threw my mind while I was doing this one.

 

 

 

I plan on mat and framing this one might crop it a bit but here is a what it might look like .

This was done in graphite of various degrees of hardness . It is 12 X 15  on Stonehenge paper  a 90 lbs paper 100% cotton it will last centuries if taken care of .

Thank You for looking

 

Morning on the farm.

Morning on the farm is 60 % real and 40% fantasy landscape. Took elements from a farm I have pictures of  . Then removed fences used existing light directions and pushed it till it was in the early morning. Did some artistic license to create a painting that is very reminiscent of an actual real place but tweaking the elements to fit a composition  that gives a romantic feeling of a sunrise on the farm.

I hope you enjoy it.

It is an acrylic  on a 14 X 18 stretched canvas.

Lone Windmill Meets the Morning

I took snippets from various sources to make this painting. I aimed to make a western feel  to it  . 


To me, It portrays the possibilities and beauty of a new day.  Calm and relaxing as the new day arrives. 

This is an acrylic on a 14 X 18 stretched canvas.  

Hope you enjoy looking at it.

Chief Manuelito

Chief Manuelito was the main Chief of the Navajos in the mid to late 1800s. 

He told a story to his people  after the long walk. 

 He said, 
"My grandchild, the whites have many things which we Navajos need. But we cannot get them. It is as though the whites were in a grassy canyon and there they have wagons, plows, and plenty of food. We Navajos are up on a dry mesa. We can hear them talking but we cannot get to them. My grandchild, education is the ladder . Tell our people to take it."

I painted this to remember his words  as if he just climbed down a ladder and was walking away.  Those words ring true for all mankind .

I used a 1850 photo of Chief Manuelito as a reference.  (there are very few of them ) I dont know who the photographer was.  

 

Chief Manuelito education is the ladder

This is an acrylic painting on canvas 16 x 20.

Thank you for looking

 

King of the Prairie

I love these icons of the old west. But they were a staple for many of the American Indians both east and west of the Mississippi . The few areas where they didn't roam Az. Cal. Fl. the seashores and the north east.

I plan to paint more Bison and other North American wildlife  .  I kinda rotate in medium and  subjects I dont want to fall in a rut and paint only one thing and one medium .

Imagine seeing a million head herd of these Bisons .  I read that was common in the 1830s .

I was a tad off on the photograph its too light on the right side.  My lighting was too bright on that side.

This is how I think I will frame this one.

This pastel is done on 15 x 22 Stonehenge paper which is 100% cotton . Cotton paper can last for several centuries if care for. I used Blick soft pastels, Schminkie soft pastels some hard pastels and pastel pencils .


Thank you for looking

Hope you enjoyed it.