A New Challenge

This post is about a painting I just finished of historical significance. Not of historical significance to the world. Just to me, really. The reason it's so significant to me is that it is the very first painting I have ever done using only the three primaries (red, yellow, blue) and white. All previous paintings have used various tubes of pre-mixed colors, especially browns.

My tube of Burnt Sienna is feeling very jealous and neglected at the moment.

Why did I do this instead of using my tried and true loyal friends, Burnt Sienna and Raw Umber? I'm not sure. I think part of it was I didn't feel I really knew my colors. How can I really understand how to mix Burnt Sienna with Naples Yellow if I don't even know what it takes to create either of them?

Or, maybe I just needed a new challenge.

Oh, never mind the "why" of it. Let's just get on with it.

Last year I attended a wildlife photography workshop in Montana at the Triple D Game Farm hosted by wildlife photographer Paul Burwell and I got a lot of great photos. Well, maybe "great" is a bit strong, since I'm not a great photographer. But I did get a lot of photos, close to 1,000. The nice thing about being an artist is that my job is to enhance the good parts of a photo and paint away the flaws, so I don't have to be the world's best photographer. Thank goodness! :)

This is an example of that. Below are two photos I took from the photo shoot. In the first one, I thought the fox pup was adorably cute, peeking out of his den. I really wanted to paint him in that pose. The problem with that image was composition. I didn't want my subject (the fox pup) to be dead center. Not very exciting composition-wise.



In the second image, I liked the position of the fox and den better, being more off to the left, closer to the rule of thirds. I also liked the addition of foliage and shadows to the right, adding some interest. But, of course, this pup's pose was not nearly as cute.



In addition to the pose/composition not being ideal in either image, the colors were also a bit drab. The overall color was a rather boring, cool gray. I decided to do a little digital editing on my computer, combining the two images to get the best of both, and also enhance the color to give it a little more warmth. Here you can see I moved the cute-pose pup to the lower left and added the foliage to the right. Here's the result:



Ah, much better! Even with these digital enhancements it still wasn't exactly what I wanted. I thought the tangle of shadows on the lower right was a bit distracting, taking attention away from my adorable pup. Also, I liked the idea of the little green sprout in the front to tie in with the rest of the foliage, but I didn't like its position. So I cut out the shadows on the lower right, and I moved the little sprout over to the lower left to help balance the greens. Here's the final painting:




As for painting this with only the three primaries and white, it was a bit of a challenge at times, especially when it came to creating the darks and grays. There was more than one time I pulled some hair out. I'm glad I did it, though. I like the subtle color variations in the grays and shadows. And the darks and grays are richer and more vibrant than they would have been had I used black and Payne's Gray. I'm very pleased with the way this painting turned out. I think I will continue to try to do my paintings with limited palettes such as this.

I just hope my tube of Burnt Sienna will forgive me someday.

Art and the Economy

I'm curious to see how artists and art collectors are doing in this poor economy over the past year or two. With unemployment and home foreclosures high, I'd imagine things are a bit tough in the art world. It's hard to imagine people spending money on art when they are struggling to keep their homes or put food on the table.
If you are a full or part-time professional artist who makes some or all of your income from art, have you felt the pinch? Have sales dropped noticeably? Have you changed your marketing strategies to try to counter some of the effects? Have you had to take on other, non-art-related work?
If you are an avid art collector, have you had to curb your spending on art recently, or changed your buying habits, like buying more prints and fewer originals?
Leave your comments below.

BoldBrush Painting Competition

If you use FaceBook, please vote for my painting in the competition. Click on the image below to follow the link to the competition page. Once there click the "Like" button to the right of the to vote. Thanks!
Of course, feel free to enter your own painting in the competition as well. There's a new one every month.

International Wildlife Art Showcase

http://www.ocartguide.com/wildlifeart-byentryorder.php

Wildlife Photo Shoot

I recently came back from a wildlife photography workshop with Paul Burwell at the Triple D Game Farm in Kalispell, MT. Other than having to get up at 4:30AM (ugh) every day, it was lots of fun and I got some great shots that are going to make some nice paintings. I got photos of a Canadian lynx, baby bobcat, foxes, coyotes, wolf, black bear, cougar, baby raccoon, river otter, and an absolutely magnificent Siberian tiger. I took about 2,000 pictures! Not being an expert photographer, they aren't all usable, but I have more than enough good ones to keep me painting for a few years. Now the hard part is going to be trying to decide which to paint first!

Call of the Wild

I haven't posted for a long time. With the economic downturn and the closing of Wildlife Art Magazine, the life of a wildlife artist has become discouraging. My art has temporarily taken a back burner. I haven't given up on it, but in light of the situation other things have taken priority.

It won't stay that way forever, however. Every day my canvases and paints call to me as I walk past my open art room door, and every day their calls get louder. Sooner or later I won't be able to ignore them any more.

Originals must go

My originals have not been available for sale for a while. My goal was to wait until I had painted a rather large collection of originals and present them to a gallery for sale. But I just don't have the space. My studio is getting crowded and it's time to let some go. First up for sale is my painting of a mother giraffe and her baby. Click the image for more info.