Bear With Me

An abstract shape as a starting point is a good way into a painting: I have a composition and design that shapes the narrative, is dynamic, and frees me from the restrictions of realism before I’m ready to tackle it. The bonds of purely realistic painting chafe me a bit. This may be just a personal preference on my part, based on my own limitations. And why not embrace my own limitations when they offer themselves up so generously (and often)?

As things progressed, however, the crow looked like it was plastered on top of the white space at the lower left rather than occupying space in the air, with a strip of unrealistic white keeping it away it from the bears.

As an experiment I scumbled in a burnt sienna wash around it and, voila, the bird flew into the foreground. Reality can be useful, judiciously applied.

I did, however, lose the zig-zag in the design. I will try to get that back.
Also, you will note, I performed a head transplant on the bear cub. Much better!

From there I began to imagine rocks sliding down a slope, and with the random patterns in the scumble those were easy to see and enhance. When it got too prominant I pushed it back with grayed down pinks, ochre yellows, lavenders. A snowfield began to emerge behind the bears, with highlights glinting here and there. I opened a jar of thick gel medium (I’m painting in acrylic) and mixed it in for fun with peaks and blobs. I brightened up the blue lupines. I called it a day.

Now I have turned the painting to the wall to let it ferment a little. I’ll come back to it in a day or so with fresh eyes and see where it wants to go.

Bear Necessities

Further progress on the Black Bear painting. You can plan up to a point and start the train rolling, and as the train speeds down the tracks you have a choice of controlling it completely or of just hanging on for the ride and hope you make it into the station in one piece. Right now this painting is rolling fast down a grade and just barely staying on the tracks. But it’s a fun ride for now, and certainly a colorful one. Things are loosening up, which is how I want them to be.

I’d sure like to upload some pictures of it to go along with this nice description but Blogger seems to have derailed itself. It hasn’t been working lately. I’ll try uploading again later. Consider this a teaser.

A Bit of Bird Artist Heaven

When bird artists get together, they mix business with pleasure. In fact, there isn’t much of a dividing line to begin with. Last weekend I had the pleasure of joining the annual Artist’s Gathering at Indigo Hill, home of the lovely and talented Julie Zickefoose, artist, author, and birder, and her genial and entertaining husband, Bill Thompson, Editor of Bird Watcher’s Digest, host, chef, music director, birding guide and all-around swell guy. It was a ravishingly beautiful fall weekend in Ohio and according a radio report, “peak weekend for leaf peeping”; a term not heard in Oklahoma, unfortunately.

Julie’s pourable art: Zickefoose Winery’s handsome new label.

Participants were Larry Barth, Barry Van Dusen, Cindy House, Jim Coe, Brenda Carter, Mike DiGiorgio, Julie and me. Besides eating and drinking very well and often (thanks, Bill!!)the Artist’s Gathering talked and laughed non-stop, shared work and techniques with awesome generosity, discussed the Big Ideas, birded, sketched, and walked in the technicolor forest under the bluest sky in the world setting off the reddest and yellowest leaves, small retinal explosions and lots of oohs and ahhs.

Not only did I have the time of my life and got to come home with a bagful of ideas and inspiration, but I got my lifer woodcock- being a Westerner keeps certain birds off your lifelist. I knew there were woodcocks at Indigo Hill and when I arrived I waved around a dollar bill, offering it to anyone who could find one for me. It turned out that the winner of the reward was Chet Baker, the charming Boston Terrier and court jester of Indigo Hill.

On our walk in the woods he flushed one out of the long grass just ahead of me. The whir of wings as it passed over my head, showing me the chunky body and long bill, was a good first look for an Okie birder, and I owe Chet a buck. I hope he will take it out in dog biscuits.

Ivorybill discussions: Mike DiGiorgio with his Ivorybilled Woodpecker print alongside Julie’s Ivorybill plate. Barry Van Dusen(center) keeps things civilized.