New Color

I've been experimenting with some new colors on my palette and have to say I'm pleased with the results. These whitetail paintings were fun studies and allowed me some freedom to push paint around and manipulate edges while maintaining good drawing. I learned a lot during both pieces. I'm excited about this new direction and the body of work that will result.

"October Winds" 14x11 oil

"The Yearling" 12x9 oil

"White Flag"

"White Flag" 8x6 oil

"Steppin' Out"

"Steppin' Out" 9x12 oil

"Solstice Moon"

"Solstice Moon" 10x20 oil

"Breakfast Interruption"

"Breakfast Interruption" 12x12 oil

The first of my new works for the Southeastern Wildlife Expo in 2016!

"Grizzled Veteran"

"Grizzled Veteran" 30x15 oil

Reserved for the 2016 Southeastern Wildife Exposition in Charleston, SC.

"Early Encounter"

"Early Encounter" 20x24 oil

With less than 3 weeks left before the SEWE show in Charleston, SC, I'm spending some long hours in the studio putting together a body of work. Soon after SEWE, I'll be at the NatureWorks show in Tulsa. Lots to do before then!
Stay tuned...

Binge Drawing

I'm never quite sure when this condition will hit me or how long it will last. The pages of my sketchbooks fill almost magically and drawings pop up in other places as well (invoices, book pages, table clothes, frosted car windows!). There are periods of complete tunnel vision when the only thing that seems to snap me out of it is the phone ringing or Otis whining at the door because he needs to go out and pee! Then I realize hours have passed. I am hungry, my throat is dry, and my hands are covered in graphite. I am tired but happy, my list of chores for the day have gone unfinished, and I want to take a nap.
Binge drawing is not always productive in terms of finished/saleable art, but it's NEVER a waste of time. I always learn from these mad sessions. It makes me think without trying to think. It makes me see things as they are rather than relying on preconceived (and usually inaccurate) notions.
This current binge is a good one! It's been a couple of weeks now and shows little sign of letting up. I sure hope Otis understands!

 

 

"Old Gray Warrior"

"Old Gray Warrior" 11x14 acrylic

Sometimes I just have to put a painting away for a while and let it rest. Often I reach a sticking point where no matter how hard I try, I just seem to spin my wheels and make absolutely no progress. This was one of those paintings. After several days of productive work, suddenly it seemed as though every brush stroke made the painting worse. It was time to stop for a while and work on other projects. Finally, almost 3 weeks later I was able to look at the piece with fresh eyes and get it back on track. Once it started moving forward again, I was able to finish it up a few sessions later.
I think this one is destined for the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition in Charleston, SC.

"Prelude to Autumn"

Inspired by a recent day afield, this small painting came together rather nicely. I may need to explore the possibility of painting this motif in a larger format.

"Prelude to Autumn" 8x6 acrylic

 

"Apparition"

"Apparition" 12x9 acrylic

I haven't been having much luck getting any projects finished lately. I have 7 paintings in various stages of incompletion. It felt good to sign and photograph this one today.

"First Light" - a Christmas Painting

Otis the Wonder Dog and I were up early this Christmas morning. He had puppy toys to unwrap and I had a painting to finish. With the floor covered in bouncy noisy toys and shredded wrapping paper (Otis' favorite part), he finally had enough Christmas fun for the morning and climbed up on the couch for a nap.

"First Light" 12x18 acrylic

With a small block of uninterrupted easel time ahead, I put out some new paint and dove in. This frozen winter landscape has been getting the bulk of my attention for about a week. I was a bit unsure about whether or not to put the whitetail in the painting. I considered a great-horned owl or a northern harrier. I also considered leaving it a pure landscape with no critters at all (my recent work seems to be leaning that way). In the end, I opted for the feeding buck, wanting to keep the quiet, early morning feel in the painting. The head-down attitude of the buck and pushing him back into the middleground of the painting helps give the painting calm and relaxed mood.
Two hours after I smeared in my first blob of paint, it was finished. I had not planned to get this far today, so it's a nice Christmas surprise to have it listed as "complete".
Merry Christmas everyone!

Rain, Wind, and Lunacy

There have been plenty of times in my life when I've questioned my own sanity. Yesterday afternoon was another one of those.

The remnants of superstorm Sandy were still swirling over Pennsylvania making the weather service radar maps look like slow-motion water circling a drain. Being holed up in the studio for the last two days, I'd had enough puttering around and needed to get out. A break between bands of rain offered me a chance to check my trail cams, move a tree stand, and maybe do a little hunting. I was out the door as soon as my lunch dishes hit the sink.

Everything seemed damp and cold outside. It wasn't quite raining, but it hadn't quite stopped either. The deluge of rain and wind from the previous two days had stripped the trees of any remaining leaves and the water soaked bark made their trunks look almost black against the landscape. A fine mist was now falling from the sky and I wondered to myself if this afternoon's outing might be a mistake. It was Halloween and dealing with the onslaught of neighborhood trick-or-treaters back at the studio didn't really appeal to me, so I pushed any negative thoughts to the back of my head... for now. Resolute in my plan, I slipped on my rubber boots and rain gear, shouldered my pack and trudged away from the truck.

Two hours after leaving the relative comfort of my truck, I found myself twenty feet up in a sparse hemlock staring out over a swamp... and getting soaked. As I sat there assessing my situation, the rain was coming steadily and showed no sign of letting up. It wasn't raining hard, but it was still enough that the insides of my "waterproof" Gortex gloves were wet and water was starting to seep from the cuffs of my parka to my elbows. At that moment, I had a decision to make. Either call it a day and head back to the truck or tough it out for the next three-and-a-half hours until dark. It seemed like an easy conclusion, but I decided to stay... smiling to myself as the rain and wind seemed to increase at that very moment.

Ignore the time and date stamp. I changed the batteries and forgot to reset the clock.

I'd love to continue this story with a tale about a big buck eventually ending up in the back of my truck, but that's not what happened. In fact, I never saw a deer (at least not until I got back to the studio and checked the memory cards from my trail cameras). The hunting aspect of this little adventure became secondary to the experience of actually being there to experience something very few have the fortitude (or lack of common sense) to face. At nearly fifty years of age, I'm not as adventurous as I used to be. I do, however, like to challenge myself on occasion... and it rarely goes without reward. Sure, I had a great-horned owl sit on a hemlock bow less than sixty feet away and shake the rain from his soaked feathers. A merlin (only the second one I've ever seen in PA) took a sparrow just above the swamp's overgrowth, landing nearby to dismantle and eat his prize. But this afternoon, I learned something about myself. Sitting completely still for three hours in the driving rain (not to mention the 39° air temperature) gives a person a lot of time for soul searching.

I wondered about my hermit-like existence, as I often do. I'm never quite sure if my need for solitude is from some sort of anti-social tendency, mental illness, or just part of my natural transformation into a crusty old fart. I find myself avoiding people with certain extreme personality traits... especially overly negative folks (I have enough uncertainty of my own without someone else's black cloud rolling over my life) and those that propel themselves in all directions in mach-two-hyper-spaz mode. I've never understood how someone can live their life like a superball in a blender, trying to go every direction at the same time at twice the speed of stupid, seemingly never accomplishing anything, regularly running their life off in a ditch and wondering how they got there.

The pace of my life is much slower than that and I've settled into a comfortable gate that gets me where I need to go while allowing me to enjoy the journey. In that context, sitting there in such inclement weather seemed perfectly natural. So at that very moment, I found myself leaning toward my crusty old fart theory and it made me laugh.

In fact, I found myself laughing to myself a lot as afternoon crept to evening and the rain began to let up a bit. The rain was still dripping steadily from the bill of my cap and my cold wet hands were nearly numb. I had to shake my head at the lunacy of this small adventure... or maybe at how much I was enjoying it.

As darkness descended upon the waterlogged landscape, I climbed down from my stand. Once again, I shouldered my pack and began the nearly half-mile hike back to the truck. Back out on the trail, the mud and standing water made the footing less than ideal, but I slogged happily along. Happy that I'd made it through the evening proving to myself that I could. Happy that my hours of isolation had led my thoughts down such a pleasant path of introspection. Happy to be headed back to the house for some dry underwear!

Time for the Hunt

It's that time of year. October and November are my favorite months to be outdoors. With the last two weeks of bow season right around the corner, deer activity is ramping up and signs of the rut are everywhere. Rubs line deer trails near thickets and swamps. Scrapes are briefly covered by falling leaves, but quickly cleaned out as bucks freshen them. Does are getting antsy as they seem to know bucks will be running them ragged in just days. Scuffles between the boys turn into knock-down-drag-out brawls when the older bullies on the block are involved.

My trail cameras are getting a workout and the anticipation of checking them for new images is sometimes more than I can stand. Still, it doesn't compare to actually being out there. Most of my days from now until the end of the season will be spent sitting 20' up in a small tree stand. I will stay from an hour before sunrise until well after sunset, only making my way back to the truck after I'm confident any deer in the area have moved on. Then it's back to the house for a quick bite to eat and a few hours of sleep before I head out again.

So far, I've been able to pace myself. It's easy for me to get burned out early in the season if I'm not careful. Now my drive has reached a crescendo of hunt all day every day if at all possible. If you call, I likely won't answer. If you visit, no one is at home. It's just that time of year.

"Sanctuary"

"Sanctuary" 10x20 acrylic

This is the final painting for my Waterfowl Festival inventory... finished just minutes ago. Time to start something new!

New Minis

"Whitetail Study" 5x7 acrylic

With the 10th annual McKeever Nature Art Show less than a week away, I've been working on some small affordable studies. See these and many more new originals at the McKeever Center in Sandy Lake, PA September 28 - 30.

"Blue Jay Study" 5x7 acrylic

Drawing... AGAIN!

 

I talk (and write) a lot about the importance of drawing and will likely continue to do so. I feel it's that important. A reporter asked me last week if I had any advice for aspiring artists. This was my reply: "Learn to draw and practice often. Solid drawing skills are the building blocks upon which all other artistic skills may be built. It's the one area I see consistently lacking with many of today's young artists."

 

 

I've spent the last couple of mornings doing a lot of drawing. I never tire of it. Drawing keeps me fresh and focused and I never lack for subject matter. None of these studies took more that 15 minutes. Most were less than 10. I just wanted to get the pose on paper as accurately and quickly as possible.

 

Second Sign of Fall

For the last couple of years, I've been having some fun with trail cameras. Setting a few cameras in likely spots, then checking the memory cards keeps me busy while my mind races toward October and the beginning of archery season. The photo above is from 1:00 AM today. It's still pretty early in the year for the bucks to be dropping their velvet, but this guy already has his antlers shined up and ready to go.
A lot of things seem to be happening early this year. The white oaks are already dropping acorns, corn fields are starting to brown, and a few trout art moving upstream as though looking to spawn... perhaps all set in motion by the dry summer. It's been a strange year.

Preseason Deer Scouting

I spent a fair amount of yesterday wandering through some of my deer hunting areas. It's always fun to get out there and see what the deer and other critters have been up to. I set a trail camera in a new area where 2 heavily used trails intersect near the corner of a corn field. For the past couple of years, I've spent more time scouting and goofing off in the deer woods than I had since I was in my twenties. Just the anticipation of getting trail cam photos of deer, turkeys, coyotes, foxes, etc. gives me the excuse I seem to need to lace up my hiking boots, sling my pack, and take off.

Big poop = Big buck!

Even during these hot summer months, well before bucks are making rubs and scrapes, they leave tell-tale sign for the observant outdoorsman. Of course tracks are always a good indicator to deer movement and I pay close attention to size, location, and direction. Droppings are another key piece to the puzzle that are often overlooked. When you find huge clumps like the one in this photo, you know there's a very large deer in the area. No 2 1/2 year old six point is going to drop a number two of this size!

"Indian Summer" 9x12 acrylic

I played around with the composition on this piece for quite a while. Originally, there were 3 bucks working their way through the goldenrod. I never really got comfortable with the spacing between them, so I simplified. The clump of trees on the left were added as an afterthought to balance the composition and help direct the viewer back into the painting.

I purposely made the buck about a foot taller than he would be in reality. Quite often, even very large bucks walking in tall goldenrod may only show the top of their antlers. Of course this would have made for a silly looking painting, so I used my "artistic license" to make him larger than life.