Announcement #1

With all the painting I have been doing, I have neglected to make a few announcements. These next several posts will take care of that.

Accepted into the 2014 Artists for Conservation event is my painting Rush Hour. The event will be held at the Grouse Mountain Resort in N. Vancouver September 26th - Oct 5th where my painting will be displayed along with other group members juried into the show. I am honored to have my work included.

As an added bonus, my painting Gold Rush has been accepted into the Artists for Conservation show to be held at the South Florida Festival in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. This show will include works from the Grouse Mountain event and more and is tentatively scheduled to run from February 20th - April 30th, 2015.

Rush Hour

12" X 30" 

Original Oil

Gold Rush

24" X 54"

Original Oil

Hmm. In both pieces there is a lot of rushing around. Think there is something to that?

The completed set

Paired - Lion

24" X 20.5"

Original Oil

I had a great deal of fun playing with the contrast in this painting. Keeping the lioness more in the shadow achieved what I was hoping - your eye goes right to the lion. There are a couple changes since this photo: a darker purple under the lioness's chin and a softening of her chest fur under her chin.

The competed set which will have matching individual custom frames is below:

This set will be sold at Auction February 4th - 7th, 2015 at the Safari Club International Convention, Mandalay Bay Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV

Lighting

By really playing up the colors both warm and cool, the lighting creates the drama. Most of the lioness will be in shadow which will keep the male the focus of the painting.

The male lion

The dramatic lighting on this male lion is a blast to paint. I am starting with making this side really cool. Lots of purples and blues.

His shadow side is a bit light right now. I'll adjust that once the other side of his head is blocked in.

The lion pair

In the leopard pair I had some soft blues in the background to complement the orange highlights in the cats. With the yellow light on the male lion, I thought some purples in the background would really make the highlights stand out.   

When painting animals the first place I start is the eyes. Once the eyes, nose and mouth are painted I have a feeling for the character of the animal. Then it much easier for me to develop the rest of the painting.

One down, one to go

Paired - Leopard

24" X 20.5

Original Oil

Sloppy Mess

You might wonder why her leg looks like a sloppy mess.

Here I wanted to pull the grasses through a dark area. In working wet on wet and not waiting for layers to dry, often the paint underneath is as important as the color you are brushing on top. Some of these dark spots will remain, some will have hints, some will be hidden.