Grizzlies

I'm adding more color and definition to the mother grizzly. I blocked in some of the cub on the right, but am mostly ignoring them until I get the mother figured out. Still a long ways to go, but so far I like it.

Brown Bear Finish

I'm calling this one done or very close to it. Some, but not many problems creeped up during painting it (always a good thing!). A big, old, brown bear strolling through the woods.

Getting there...

My brown bear painting is almost done. I kept him in a forest type habitat...lots of broken color and neutral colors in the foreground left to keep focus on the bear.

New Grizzly Painting

"Did Someone Order the Fish?"

I think I finished this little acrylic painting of a grizzly catching a salmon for lunch. It's title is "Did someone order the fish?" and it actually went pretty smooth. I tried to have the grizzly look like he is fighting the rushing water a bit while hanging on to his prize catch. The bear was fun to paint, the fish was a little tricky (I think because of the small size of the painting), and the water was surprisingly easy to get to look the way I wanted.

Overall, a success. Next up is a paleo piece I've just completed.

More bears and a prehistoric beast...

Another acrylic painting of a grizzly bear, who is taking a stroll on the tundra. This is a small painting, 8"x10" on pastelbord. I found the surface easy to work with acrylics on and I'm pleased with how this little painting turned out.

I've ordered some colourfix primer to put on some gessobord so I can see how that surface is to paint on. They have some neat colors that I think would be fun to try.

The other painting is of a dinosaur, Chasmosaurus. Flowers had just started evolving during the time this guy was around, so I painted him enjoying running through a wildflower field. If you are wondering where this came from, I've had an interest in Paleontology since I can remember. Animals of unbelievable size and forms that really existed! How cool is that! Plus, I get to take the creative license pretty far in terms of color, ornamentation, behaviors, etc. The term for this kind of art is called Paleoart, or Paleo Wildlife Art. This painting will hopefully soon find it's way into Prehistoric Times magazine...a great mag that caters to all things prehistoric! I highly recommend it if you find this kind of stuff as neat as I do. Here is the link for PT magazine: http://www.prehistorictimes.com/

First post!

"Go Fish"

Hi there everyone!

Welcome to my blog where I hope to share with you my efforts at painting in acrylics and oils.

I enjoy painting wildlife, as difficult as it is to do. I favor looser treatment of the paint, as opposed to tightly detailed rendering of every hair. I've mostly painted with oil paints, but have currently been experimenting with acrylics. I'm finding that the fast drying time can actually work in my favor since I like to build up texture in my work.

This is my newest piece, titled "Go Fish". A brown bear successfully nabs a salmon. It is acrylic and is 12"x12". This painting was almost a failure, I almost dumped it. It managed to survive though and I think I'm happy with it.