"Ghost"

"Ghost" 10x8 oil

Get Something Started (WIP)

As the year is quickly drawing to a close, I've been itching to work on a large painting or two. Last week I went out to the garage and cut a 20x40 panel with this mule deer piece in mind. The image above shows the first layer of very thin paint. This underpainting will be almost completely cover with subsequent layers of thicker paint, but sets the tone for what the finished piece will eventually look like.
The remainder of the painting will be slow going, but I will try to post progress photos from time to time. Stay tuned.
Special thanks to my friend Ray Brown for providing reference photos for this painting.

"Muleys and Sage" 12x10 acrylic on masonite

As you may have noticed, since my September '09 trip out west, I've been working mostly with western subjects and compositions. I love the Rocky Mountain west (though I don't get to visit near as much as I'd like) and the recurrence of this western theme will be a staple in my art for years to come.

A variation on the same idea used for "Mountain Meadow", this painting includes the additional element of a young mule deer buck as the main focal point. The placement of the deer in the upper portion of the composition and the vertical format add a feeling of height. I've found that sagebrush is easily manipulated to enhance composition and relatively easy to paint. The subtle blue-green color makes the small splashes of accent color really pop. I almost wish I'd have painted this piece a bit larger.

"Mountain Meadow" 8x12 acrylic on masonite

I've always felt it necessary to pay very close attention to the habitat in my art. Of course some settings are more spectacular and paintable than others, so I choose carefully when constructing my compositions. The contrast between the blue-green sage and the multi-colored grasses both attracted and concerned me. The low light of early morning allowed me to mute the colors a bit and push most of them toward the cool side of the spectrum. Too much color would likely have resulted in and almost cartoon-like feeling. While striving for a reasonable amount of accuracy, the words of John Banovich kept coming back to me, " Don't paint every blade of grass, but paint the essence of the grass." Interestingly enough, when I attempt to painstakingly paint every blade, my grass looks stiff and very unnatural. Essence it is! Not only is this quicker, but my foliage ends up having much more depth and accuracy.

The muley doe feeding peacefully along the hillside is another one of those "can't miss" subjects. The well defined features and relatively light pigmentation of her face immediately draws the viewer's attention to the focal point... her eye. Her posture as she carefully nips a leaf from a prickly bush adds to the serenity of the scene.

"Rocky Hideout" 30x20 acrylic on masonite

I've been working steadily on this piece for a little more than a month and it's finally finished. The patterns in the the lichens and granite are very intricate and took a considerable amount of time to render on such a large piece. This is much more of a "landscape" than my typical work, but the shadows in the rocks are such strong visual elements, I just had to paint them. I knew as I was shooting the reference photos... this would be a perfect setting for some mule deer. Did you spot the second buck before you read this far?