Bighorn Skull
This year our family spent Spring Break in Southwest Colorado. It’s only a few hours from home, but it felt like a world away. The landscape was, also, completely different than my home back in Boulder. This was canyon country – rugged, dry, mysterious, and full of overlooked color. I was snapping photos everywhere hoping when I got back home I’d be inspired to paint some desert scenery. As it happened, I returned home most inspired by a weathered bighorn sheep skull that was hanging above the door on an old shed. At first, I was thinking I’d just paint the skull in the same well-known style Georgia O’Keeffe had painted skulls of animals she had found. However, once I got started the painting found it’s own voice. I’m pretty pleased with the outcome.
Bighorn, 18″ x 24″ acrylic on board, 2013
Like many of my other painting posts, I think it is fun to show the process. Here’s how it all went down…
I started, like most paintings, with a simple sketch.
Then I added the first of many layers. My goal here was just to cover up the white.
I quickly came back with another few layers of color to define the background. I love acrylics.
The next step was also quickly done without much fuss. I added some various earthy brown hues without much care and simply dragged a damp kitchen sponge over the paint. This gave the wood grain effect of the shed’s siding. I later added some more detail with a brush to capture the shadows and cracks, but I didn’t spend too much time on it.
Before I called it a day, I went back over the actual skull with some basic solid colors to recapture the sketch so I wouldn’t loose it.
Next, I went to work on the basic skull. After I laid down some paint, I came back later to add shadowing so it was consistent across the whole piece. Now I know why Georgia O’Keeffe painted skulls over and over. They are so detailed and unique. At a distance a sun-bleached skull appears white, but on closer inspection there are lots of browns, yellows, grays, and hints of red. They are absolutely beautiful objects.
Finally, the last main section of the painting was the sheep’s horns. I thought about this for a while before I actually tackled it. I thought the horns would be daunting to blend in with the super-detailed approach of the skull, but I eventually decided for a more suggestive approach instead of laboriously painting the exact detail – I really need to get away from stressing over the details.
A few final touch ups, and I called it complete. I’m learning when to stop.
Horses Below Devil’s Grave Mesa
My lastest painting originated from a photo I took outside of the bunkhouse on the Rossi Ranch where I occasionally stay during elk hunting trips. It was about -10 degrees on a bitterly cold December morning. I just had gotten my elk and was about to head inside to cook some breakfast, but I couldn’t move. I just stood there and stared at these beautiful horses and the dramatic scenery in the background.
Horses Below Devil’s Grave Mesa, 2013, 18″ x 24″ acrylic on canvas panel
As usual, I like to post a few photos of the process, and I usually start out with a sketch. This time was no different.
Next, I set the tone by adding some dark colors on first. It’s nothing but a heavy glaze, but gets me going in the right direction.
Next, I work on the mesa in the distance. I get all the shape how I like them.
Then I wash the whole background with a little white to get the feeling there is a snow storm brewing in the near distance. I also take the time to block in the horses with something close to their final color.
Then I paint the bushes and fence in the foreground, and I add finishing touches to the horses.
Finally, well almost, I add some detail in the foreground. It’s here where I realized I didn’t know when to stop. I should have stopped a long time ago leaving the foreground partially barren to draw the eye down the fence and not add so much busy up-front.
However, that’s easy enough to fix. Paint over some grass and preserving the snow. Now I’m calling it quits.
Afternoon Light on County Road M
Afternoon Light on County Road M, 2013, acrylic on 18″ x 24″ canvas
Some paintings have multiple lives. I started this one back in 2010. It was going to be a foggy woodland meadow landscape. I got bored with it, and I almost threw it out.
Fast forward to 2011. I was out on the eastern plains of Colorado pheasant hunting with a good friend when I saw this massive field of freshly bailed hay. I jumped out of the truck and took a few photos of the setting sun. It inspired me to go back and give new life to the neglected work in progress. Alas, I again lost interest in finishing it.
So, it’s now 2013, and I’m tired of looking at this unfinished painting. Pop the top on a few beers. A few dabs of paint, and, ummm, I think it’s done.
Brown
Brown, 18″ x 24″ acrylic on panel
It’s the second painting in two weeks. Woohoo! I’m on a roll. Well, not exactly. I’ve got a nasty cold, and I’m trying to make the best of my time indoors. Here are a few shots of the process…
It all started with a pencil sketch.
Then I blocked in the whole surface with a little bit of color.
Whoa, that was a little too light. So, I then darkened it up a bit and added some color variation along the flank.
Then I added a few more layers and highlights.
Next, I lightened the whole piece up a bit putting subtle browns in the brown trout which couldn’t be complete without a few beautiful red spots.
Finally, I added the reflection, eye detail, and mouth corner. I’m not sure it’s done yet, but I’m done for now.
Self-portrait in Stream
This was a really fun experiment. It’s (8″ x 24″) acrylic on plywood like many of my paintings, but it takes a different approach than most of my work. I sketched a scene entirely from my imagination without the aid of a photograph or any other visualization (that’s a first), I painted quickly (another first), used bold colors, and didn’t fuss over things (and another first). I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. Maybe I’ll do some more like this.
It all started with a sketch done with a Sharpie on a piece of gesso’d scrap plywood…
Quickly dash in some sky and purple mountains…
Keeping the colors bold, add some foothills and a stream bank …
Add some water…
And a few trees…
Finally, put myself fishing in the stream to complete the self-portrait…
Bird of Prey
It’s been a while since I’ve pushed some paint, and this one was inspired by an Instagram photo taken by a friend of mine, Todd Straka, while he was on a trail run.
Bird of Prey, acrylic on canvas, 8″ x 8″, 2012
And here is the original Instagram photograph (http://instagram.com/p/Rl3XIuupvi/). Thanks Todd.
Imitation Is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
It’s been about a year since I’ve finished my first painting, and this is it. I’m posting this now as I’m reorganizing my office, and I’m trying to figure out where to hang it.
It was done in acrylic on plywood (2′ x 4′), and painted over a few months during graduate school. I was originally attempting to just throw down some paint to teach myself about mixing color and getting used to the medium, but I think it turned out pretty good.
This painting was inspired blatantly copied from the cover shot of Catch Magazine, March 2010. The photo was taken by Brian O’Keefe of a nice rainbow being released into the Beaverhead River, Montana. I purchased the image through the magazine and used it as my computer background image for several months before I decided to attempt to paint it.
If you are not a subscriber to Catch Magazine (it’s free!), I highly recommend you check it out if you are an artist or a fly fisher. Brian O’Keefe and Todd Moen have created a beautiful publication that never ends to inspire me to fish, photograph, and paint. http://catchmagazine.net
Nowadays, I usually don’t copy paintings from other works, but you gotta start somewhere.