Elk Paintings

Thereis a local Wildlife & Animal juried show and exhibit coming up at the Creative Center in Butler, PA. I decided to enter some work to see what happens. This will be the first time I have entered a show of anykind and I am excited and nervous about it at the same time. I plan on entering 6 pieces, "Looking West", "Cheetah Portrait", "Back Off", "Falcon Portait" and the following two elk paintings.

"Evening Bugle" 11x14 oil on stretched canvas



The following is a sketch I did to familiarize myself with the contours of the elk in this pose.



"Mid-day Reprieve" 8x10 oil on stretched canvas

A couple more plein air's

I recently went to White Pines, Tennessee to visit my aunt and uncle who had just retired and build a home on Lake Douglas, just outside the foothills of the Smokey Mountains. What a spot! The lake is gorgious and is home to Osprey, Bald Eagles, Herrons and countless other creatures. I could spend a lifetime down there painting.
We went on a road trip through part of the Smokey's. We saw some incredible vistas and valleys. Even got lucky and spotted two Bull Elk in a field. All and all it was a fantastic trip and I hope to return soon and often.

This is the view from there waterfront property looking across the narrow part of the lake. The lake is much better than my dipiction of it. In the distance you can see the smokey mountains.

"Douglas Lake" 10x12 oil on panel




It painted this one a couple of days after we returned from our trip. This looking North-West of our back deck. I decided to paint this in grays to practice my values, plus to paint it quicker as another storm front was moving in overhead and it was threatening rain.

"Approaching Storm" 10x14, oil on panel

Here are a couple of plein air painting. This first one is a quick study I did before meeting a friend for some beers. This is at a local bike trail that runs along the Youghigheny River. This particular spot is in a small town called Little Boston. It was a nice spot to paint with lots of subject matter. I would like to get back there when I would have more time paint. This is a small 4x6 painting that I pounded out in about 30 minutes, including set-up.

"Little Boston Bridge" 4x6 oil on panel



This plein air was done in Polish Hill. I had painted the buildings to the right of this on another outing to this spot. Once agian, I had somewhere to be and was running out of time. There was a house right next to this on eon the left I had planned on painting but ran out of time. So I filled it in with sky and went on my way.

"Polish Hill Home" 10x12 oil on panel

This painting is a studio painting I did about a month ago. I was inspired to do a group of seagull paintings after re-reading "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" by Richard Bach. This first attempt is nothing like I had envisioned in my mind. I got to trapped by the photo reference and was unable to pull my vision out of the reference.
I will revisit this later when I have a more solid image in my head of what I am trying to accomplish. But, for now, here is this one.

"Looking West" 10x14 oil on panel

I painted these back in May. My family and I went camping for the weekend at Ohiopyle. I ended up being a beautiful weekend and a fun trip. Although, camping with an 15 month old boy isn't the same as camping when it was just the two of us. He definitly keeps our hands full. My wife however, being the generous woman she is, took charge of him which allowed me to go paint in peace for a few hours. I went to a popular spot called "Cucumber Falls" to paint and found it to be an exhilerating place to paint. The thunder of the waterfall and the moisture in the air really helps to calm the nerves, relax and focus. Even though it was a very busy spot, with kids climbing all over the rocks and people taking pictures or just sitting around and watching me paint, it was also a calm and relaxing spot to paint. I definitly want to get back and paint this location again.

"Cucumber Falls" 10x14 oil on panel




This one is of a pop-up camper that was set up in the lot across the way from our camper.

"Camper In The Shade" 4x6 oil on panel

I have several "plein aire" paintings that I did over the course of the summer. At this point I can't remember the order in which they were painted.

This one was a fun one for me. It really helped me get over my fear of getting out there and painting in public. I painted this one during the Cherry Blossom Parade in Washington DC. Lots of people were milling about the mall so I got to tackle that fear head on. My first time painting any transiant objects which was fun.

"National Mall" 8x10 oil on board



This is a quick study I did in my backyard. Not my best but I will show them all, the good, the bad abd the ugly.

"Pear Tree In Bloom" 8x10 oil on panel



I did this one on my deck in the back of the house. This was done mostly as a study to practice painting "sky holes" or those litle spots in trees where the sky can be seen through the branches.

"Pine Three's" 4x6 oil on panel

I have a lot of work that I need to post. It has been a busy summer and I haven't had the time to keep up with my blog. Before I post anything new I have some older work I would to post here.

The first is a Cheetah portrait. This is oil on canvas paper done in a thin wash with detailed layed on top.



The next one is from the same year. Both were done in 1995. Looking back at these two pieces I wonder why I didn't continue to paint. They are pretty good and had I kept up the tempo and been painting all along...I can only imagine how far ahead my skills would be now. It is a lesson learned, NEVER STOP PAINTING!

"Proud" oil on canvas paper