Wildlife in American Art

I bought this book, Wildlife in American Art: Masterworks from the National Museum of Wildlife Art, a while ago but just today sat down and really took a good look at it.


It's a beautiful book and I wish it had more artwork by each artist. But that doesn't mean it's a skimpy book. It's a huge book, actually, and covers a lot of artists. It goes clear back to wildlife artist Marcus Catesby, born in 1682! Covering that much history, there obviously was room for a whole gallery of works from each artist. Nevertheless, it's very interesting and informative, and a must for anyone seriously interested in wildlife art.

NASA's Curiosity Lands on Mars!

Sorry, I was too busy watching the Mars landing to think or blog about art tonight. The NASA rover, Curiosity, successfully landed on Mars just moments ago and I've been watching live!


Here's the NASA update:
Mars Curiosity

Why do I care?

Well, not only because it's making history, but because I've always had a love of astronomy. I have a love of all natural sciences, actually .... including those related to wildlife, of course!

But, truth be told, when I first attended community college at age 17, I planned to study astronomy. However, when I learned there were few career choices for astronomers ... much like art! ... even for those with a PhD, I was encouraged by parents and teachers to pursue a more "practical" career path.

Yeah, I did. I got my degree in Business Administration, and that career path died along with my soul there.

Haha! But it's never too late to start over. So, again, my paint brushes are fired up and ready to go! Will I make history with my art like Curiosity just made history? Who knows! But I'll have a lot more fun trying than I will in business admin!

Golden Eagle Painting Revision - WIP

Got a bit more done on the revision of the background on my golden eagle painting. The sky is pretty much finished and I'm working on the mountains now.


Next I'll be adding some trees to the mid-foreground. It's a good sized painting, 20"x32", so it's taking some time. But it's getting there!

Here's the original version, in case you hadn't seen it before.

Animals You've Never Heard Of - Takin

I'm sure some of you have heard of a takin, but many people have probably not. It's not a commonly mentioned or popular animal. According to Wikipedia a takin is a sort of antelope-goat creature that lives in the Eastern Himalayas. It looks a bit more like a cross between a cow and a mountain goat to me.


(source: ZooBorns.com)

In any case, it's an interesting creature. I thought of it because someone posted a pic of it on Facebook today, showing a new baby takin at the Highland Wildlife Park.
Someone mentioned that it was an odd creature. But I found this picture to actually be quite cute. He looks like a big brown lamb!


What do you think of takins? Odd? Interesting? Or Cute?
Had you ever heard of one before now?

Research Your Subjects - White Tiger Facts

Not long ago I finished a white tiger painting. Before I painted it I did a lot of looking around online and in my wildlife books to learn about the animal. Besides just looking at lots of pictures, I read a bit about white tigers too. This is important to do. Don't rely on images you see online for accurate information on how to portray your subject. They may be inaccurate, or you may overlook some detail if it's not pointed out in a descriptions somewhere.

When looking at artwork of white tigers online and comparing the facts I'd read I noticed a few errors. Many otherwise very good artists had inaccurately painted or incorrectly described their subject. We aren't talking kids' finger paintings here. I saw some very nicely done, professional paintings of white tigers that were excellent except for the obvious fact that the artist had not researched the facts about the subject.

I won't name names or show images because this isn't about picking on any particular artist. It's just to point out that not researching your subject, and portraying it inaccurately, can diminish the feeling of realism in the work. Now, of course, if realism is not your style then do whatever you want. But most of these paintings were realistic in style and I would assume the artist intended it to be an accurate representation of the animal.

So what were these flaws? Mainly yellow eyes, and being called "Siberian" tigers. But also some more subtle things like overly stark white fur with jet black stripes.

The facts are:

White tigers are Bengal tigers. There's no such thing as a white Siberian tiger. Any accounts of a white Siberian tiger have never been proven, or have been shown to be crossed with Bengals. I see many white "Siberian" tigers in paintings. I suppose it is due to the fact that a white tiger looks good in the snowy Siberian forest. Perhaps we can call that "artistic license"?

White tigers do not have yellow eyes. Almost all white tigers have blue eyes. Occasionally, they will be greenish-blue.

White tigers are not albinos, therefore they do not typically have stark white fur. They often have a tinge of orange left in their white fur, like this cute little guy.

(Image source: A-Z Animals)
Their stripes are also often muted brownish-black to brown rather than being jet black.

White tigers are actually pretty rare in the wild. Most white tigers are in captivity, and have been inbred, resulting in all sorts of health issues and abnormalities.

Ok, so what? Most people who view a painting of a white tiger will not know these facts. So who cares? True, most won't. But chances are, if someone is a collector of wildlife art, they will know these things. You don't typically spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on art if you don't have a love of the subject. And if you have a love of the subject, you know these things.

And who I am to preach about it? I have made some mistakes in my paintings. I'm definitely not perfect. But, as artists, we should always be striving to improve ourselves and our art. It's not all about painting techniques and honing our brush skills. It's also about studying and knowing our subjects intimately. Don't forget what you're painting because you're so focused on how you're painting. Always be learning inside and outside the studio!

My Past Life - Chauffeur

Whatever we do for a living these days, whether art, or CEO, or whatever, most of us probably had some "interesting" job in our younger years, not necessarily related to our career goals.

I had to be amused when I came across an old picture of me in a tuxedo. This was back when I was about 25 years old or so, working as a chauffeur in the Los Angeles area, driving limousines. I was going to collage at the time and this was the perfect job for a college student because it was mostly evening and weekend work.



I wasn't so bad looking back then. Sad what age does to you! LOL

By the way, being a chauffeur is not nearly as glamorous as many people think it is. There were many long hours driving. Weekends were busiest. Sometimes so busy, like during prom or wedding season, I would not sleep all weekend. I would be driving a prom group until 5:00AM only to have to be at a wedding by 11:00AM. Well, I got to sleep from 6:00AM to 10:00AM, right? No. The reality was, I was often cleaning vomit (and other unmentionables) out of the back of the limo during those wee hours in between, getting it ready for the next customer. Not a glamorous job at all.

It wasn't all bad though. I did occasionally get invited to some parties and night clubs, and meet some interesting people. But there were the obnoxious and unruly groups too. It was a crazy job!

So what has this to do with wildlife art? Nothing really. I'm just sharing some of my pre-wildlife-art life. So wherever you are in your life, whether you're doing art full-time, working your way to it, or working some crappy job and just dreaming about art, remember we've all been there at some time in our lives, doing something we'd rather not be doing. But whatever it is, it all brings us to where we are now, makes us who we are now. Having crazy jobs has allowed me to appreciate even more the time I spend doing my art. Had I never done anything else, maybe I wouldn't appreciate what I have. It's always good to remember.

Making Art is a Lonely Business

Artists spend a lot of time in their studios, often alone. For social people this is definitely unpleasant. But, even for relatively reclusive people, this is not really healthy.

Human beings are social creatures, like it or not. Even if you think you don't like being around people, the fact is, you really need to be sometimes. It's just human nature.

I am not an outgoing person. I am not particularly social. I don't like big crowds or parties. But, even being relatively reclusive, being completely alone is not always fun. I don't necessarily want to socialize, but I like knowing someone's there ... somewhere.

I have a husband, and a dog. My dog keeps me company while my husband is at work all day. She's a wonderful, sweet dog. She'll lie by my side all day while I paint. That's great. But she's not a human.

Sometimes I just need to be around people. Sometimes I want to interact with them, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I just want to have them around somewhere, even if I don't necessarily want to interact with them.

So, after hours and hours of work in the lonely studio, what do you do when you need to get out and be around people?

Artist associations are a good start. In many areas, there are lots of local art associations to become members of that have monthly meetings, as well as occasional shows and outings.

Unfortunately, in some areas there are not a lot of active associations, so what then? For me, it seems, there are a lot fewer active artist associations in the Seattle area, where I now live, than there were in the Los Angeles area, where I used to live. So what now?

Well, what other things are you interested in? Think about other things you like which may be art related in some way. I am a wildlife artist so I can look for groups in my area that are interested in wildlife. For example the Eastside Audubon group in my area has weekly bird watching outings.

There's also the local Sierra Club for nature lovers.

If you're not a wildlife artist, what is related to your art? Do you do landscapes? Join a plein-air group. Do you do portraits? Many local art supply stores, schools, or art associations have weekly life drawing sessions. Do you do florals? Join a garden club or your local botanical society.

If you can't find something related to your art, consider other things you like. I know many artists feel if it's not art related, they shouldn't be doing it. They need to be living and breathing art 24/7. But you can't, and shouldn't, live in an art bubble. You need to be around people occasionally, whether it's art related or not. So consider groups that have things you're interested in, even if they aren't art related. If you're not sure where to find groups in your area that have similar interests, there's always Meetup.com. You can find groups of just about any interest there, from book lovers to tornado chasers.

And remember, sometimes being around non-artists is a better way of networking. If you're a landscape artist and only spend your free time around other landscape artists, you're not likely to meet new buyers there. The other landscape artists already have their walls full of their own art. You need to connect with people who love landscapes but aren't artists. Groups like the Sierra Club, or your local botanical society, are more likely to connect you to people who love landscape art and might actually want to buy yours.

If none of this works for you, remember you can always just go sit and draw or paint in a park by yourself. Sometimes just watching other people walking, talking, laughing, and playing can be uplifting.