Tundra

I start the tundra with broad loose strokes. As this section progresses, the blobs (painting technical term ...wink), streaks, and blotches become tighter and more defined. Not wanting to lose the bright color underneath I make sure to leave space for it.

With the tundra mostly in place there are some adjustments and additions I would like to make. First, some very thin grasses strategically placed will add some lightness to the foreground. Also, I think the tundra needs some bright yellows so I will play with that.
With the busyness of the foreground, the big bull's legs are getting a little lost. Time to revisit them.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

Crazy with color

Yes, the bottom is really that bright. I've put on a turpentine wash consisting of quinacridone coral and cadmium orange. Rather than have a fairly neutral base to the tundra, this will be intense. Most of the color will be covered but the little that peaks through will mimic the bright reds and oranges of the fall tundra.

Until I get some of the tundra painted, it is a rather distracting color throwing off the carefully orchestrated palette. But I believe the end result will be worth the visual discordance.

More of Bull #2

Still working on Bull #2.

For all the animals I have been using my support bar. It is clamped to my vertical pieces and can be moved up and down as needed. This is particularly helpful when working wet-on-wet.

I've added some lighter rump sections. Next up, the antlers.

Bull #2

Bull #2
Rather than starting with his antlers, I wanted to paint his body first and make the value adjustment relative to Bull #1. Here in addition to his antlers, his bell and back still need to be painted.

Note: For both bulls I have put in a turpentine wash for their shadows.  Bull #1 has a duller and more purple shadow while Bull #2 has a more intense blue shadow. Much of it will be covered by tundra but some will peak through.

Bull #1

I began with the bull's antlers and worked my way down.

Below you can see the lighter areas have been painted. I also lightened the bull overall and made some modifications to his antlers.

Caribou

One of the reasons I painted all the shadows first is to keep the color intensity the same for these running caribou. If they were too dark or the hue was too intense the attention would be drawn away from the bulls.

In adding the light sunlit sections, I kept the transitions soft. This will help keep these caribou further in the distance than the bulls.

Painting caribou

Though landscape can add so much to a painting, my favorite part is always the animals. They bring the piece to life.

I'm starting with the running caribou. Below the shadows have been painted. Might be a little hard to see on these images, but the shadows have cerulean blue and ultramarine blue.