An Artist's Sketchbook

Back Off!

I completed this painting about two weeks ago. It is a return to a style I was playing with back in the late 90's. You can see an example of this in the "Mountain Lion" painting that is posted on my paintings blog: http://daveraselpaintings.blogspot.com/ I am trying to get an abstract/graphic look in the background, balanced with an impressionism/realism look to the animal. I think it could work well, just a matter of getting that balance between the two. I am pretty happy with the way this painting turned out. I think I really captured the expression on the falcon's face. This is oil on stretched canvas, 12x24.



Here is a detail shot of the falcon's head:


The following is my second attempt at this style. I was trying to get more motion on the canvas with this one. This is oil on stretched canvas, 16x20.



This was an interesting experience with canvas for me. The first one, "Back Off!", was painted on a canvas that I prepared myself. I started with raw 12oz. cotton duck canvas. I stretched it then prepped the surface with rabbit skin glue sizing. This stuff is amazing. It pulled the canvas tight as a drum. I then primed the canvas with Oil gesso, applied with a palette knife. The second painting "Bird of Prey" was done on a store bought canvas. The difference between the two blew me away. Granted, the store bought one was a cheap Michael's brand, but the application of paint on the two was so dramatically different. The paint flowed so nice and smooth on the one I stretched. The store bought canvas took much more work to get the paint to stick. I think it shows in the painting itself. Lesson learned.