Giraffe & Company

GIRAFFE & COMPANY
Of the giraffe subspecies, I think the Reticulated Giraffe is the most striking. The refined spots add to the drama of its patterned coat. By placing the giraffe in shadow, I was able to play with orange dappled light. I added the red-billed oxpeckers for scale, and well, for fun.
This original oil painting is 27" X 13.25".

Close to Home

Photo by Linda Besse, 3/19/09

I don't have to travel far from home to be rewarded with stunning wildlife. Yesterday was a perfect example. Just 1.5 miles from my home, I came across this scene of 3 bald eagles arguing over a deer carcass. I was able to watch them interact (and feast) for over 30 minutes. Always mindful to keep my distance so I don't interfere with an animal's natural behavior, I stayed in my car observing intently. It was also fun to watch a couple of eagles flying back and forth among the distant pines waiting for their turn.
As I was headed home several hours later, I passed close to the same spot and saw 2 pheasant roosters. What stunning color they have this time of year.
This is a good reminder for me to have my camera with me especially this time of year. I didn't have it when I first spotted the eagles so had to run back home for it. (and that 1.5 miles is a steep climb in slushy snow and ice. Good thing I have 4-wheel drive to get to my home!) The rest of the day proved fruitful. I also saw large flocks of Canada geese feeding on freshly sprung winter wheat, a flock of trumpeter swans in flight, deer, strutting tom turkeys, several prairie falcons, numerous mallard pairs, and a kestrel. And I wasn't trying to have wildlife encounters. Just running a couple errands.
How I love the arrival of Spring.
Happy Vernal Equinox!

Evolution of a Painting Part III

Original Oil painting by Linda Besse 14" X 23"

The completed oil painting.
(See Evolution of a Painting Part I and Part II below.)
Sometimes I have the title in my mind before I start and other times I am struggling to come up with one after I am finished. This time, the title came to me while I was working on the painting at the Tulsa show. After running a couple of other title ideas past a few of my artist friends (who thought they were awful!), I landed on the title which I think says it all.
The title is...................... Polar Plunge

While working on the painting, I was thinking of the Antarctic Polar Plunge I did on the trip. (hence the title.) Yes, there were 40 of us out of the roughly 100 passengers who engaged in this perfectly insane endeavor. Though not as graceful as the penguins, I certainly tried to make up for it with enthusiasm. The photo of me is just after my feet leave the platform and before I am engulfed in iceberg-laden water! Brrrrrr!

Penguins

While the leaping penguin painting in Evolution of a Painting was in transit to the NatureWorks show in Tulsa (see blog below), I completed two other penguin paintings.













Gentoo Touch 8.5" X 10.5" Original Oil

There are few scenes more touching than a penguin with its chick. I find the gentoo penguin with its red beak and white eyebrow one of most attractive of its species. Even at this young age, the chick is starting to show the tell-tale hint of a red beak. I wanted this to be one of the first scenes I painted on my return from Antarctica.












Penguin Party 8" X 13.75" Original Oil

The first morning on shore, brilliant sunlight made the ice floes glow. I wanted to capture the nuances of the colors in the ice and the endearing character of the Adele penguins. The successful colony had tens of thousands of breeding pairs.
I like painting miniature paintings, and when finished with Penguin Party, I had to paint my signature. The last e of my name took 5 times to get right because it was so small. I had to wonder if maybe I had taken the concept of "miniature" a tad too far!

Evolution of a Painting Part II

Working on my penguin painting during

NatureWorks, Tulsa, OK.

At NatureWorks, I received an Award of Excellence for my painting, Flamingo Dance. With all the great work at the show from the other artists, I consider the award quite an honor.

Flamingo Dance

Evolution of a Painting Part I

A number of people have asked me how I paint. I thought this blog would be a good opportunity to share my method with you.
First of course is the research. My recent trip to Antarctica provided lots of great reference and I have chosen to start with some action from Adele penguins.

Step 1: Gather reference
Step 2: Prepare and gesso untempered hardboard
Step 3: Work out the composition and draw on the board (as seen above)
Step 4: Use a light turpentine wash to seal the drawing. I like a mixture of raw sienna and burnt sienna.

Step 5: Add more pigment to the turpentine wash

and start creating a value study with the wash.

Step 6: Wait for turpentine wash to dry and start painting.
I like to use a wet-on-wet oil technique and I keep blending the edges.

Once I have the background and some of the foreground in, I then start on the animals (my favorite part.) This time, I will be working on the penguins as a demonstration at my next show.

Natureworks, Tulsa OK

February 27th - March 1st, 2009

For more details, see http://www.natureworks.org/

Check back to see the completed painting.

Antarctica research trip 2008

Photo of Linda in Antarctica

Glorious light, icebergs adorned with penguins, humpback whales surfacing to take a peak, elephant seals lumbering across a gravel spit, gentoo penguins feeding their recently hatched twins. There are so many memories from this trip. And many ideas for future paintings.

There is a saying, "getting there is half the fun." Well, getting there was certainly interesting. Imagine a small ship, carrying a little over 100 passengers. Now, picture this ship sailing across the Drake Passage, known for its casualties. Then, put yourself on this vessel, add winds up to 112 miles an hour and seas up to 45 feet. Now, walk down the corridor, or try to stop yourself from careening out of bed, or try to keep some (or any) dinner ware from flying off the table. You have entered the "Drake Zone." And, step outside and attempt to take pictures of the albatross gliding alongside in the wind, or the petrels skimming the surface of the waves towering above the horizon.

We were lucky in one sense. Though we couldn't make all the landings originally scheduled, we did have that rare opportunity to visit the east side of the Antarctic peninsula and did make two continental landfalls. The high winds gave us magnificently clear skies along with astonishing visibility for our other zodiac landings. And, I returned with 1000's of exciting photos and dozens of painting ideas.

Paintings from this trip will be posted as I finish them. I can't wait to start!

By the way, Antarctica was my last continent, so now I have visited all seven in researching the flora and fauna for my paintings.