Ridge Ravine Whitetail Oil Painting

Working up another study, this one again just
8"x 10" in size...

Plans to do a few, then perhaps work up a
rather large canvas, hoping these small studies
give me a good lead in on a large one...

Not finished, but here's where its at after one
session this late afternoon...


















here a closeup..(click on it is quite larger) so that the
brushwork for this smaller piece can be better examined-

Oil Painting- Whitetail Buck Bustin' Out

One of those nights...one of those days, and
painting just seems like the best thing for the
moment. Always feel a bit better after painting.

I've got large whitetails on the mind after my
son Jeremy and I, saw ten bucks this past weekend.
First time I witnessed a couple bucks fighting as
well. Very cool!!!

This painting is more or less sketched in, and I
used a Lee LeBlanc principle, one Lee shared with
me back in the late 1970's...which is, reserve the
darkest dark, the lightest light, and purest color
for your wildlife subject and all else should pale
by comparison. That was his recipe for some dang
nice paintings that spanned a long and noted
artist career.

As only an 8"x 10" study, and already not too
bad for what I was aiming for...



















and a closeup...(click on both images here to see larger view)

Oil Painting of Eagle Soaring

7"x 5" oil

Working up some studies of eagles...and several
approaches to applying oils. I want to remain soft
and the image not overly tight.

A closeup reveals the simplistic suggestive
brushwork...

these images can be viewed larger by clicking
on them...

Riley...a femal Chesapeake Retriever...

a 10"x 8" oil sketch study of my younger
son's retriever, Riley...

Redhead Drake...Oil Painting...a study 5"x 4"

More practice to eek out the rough edges...a redhead
drake in oil...

5"x 4" oil on pumice gessoed panel...



















Now on sale...(visit my Will Paint for Gas sales blog)

When you do these...thinking of the stamp reduction size...
you paint with reduction in mind, that is for the stamp.
Often...artists will use a reducing glass. I tend to hold a
pair of binoculars in reverse, which shows me the smaller
size. Something like this...

Hen Woodduck Oil Painting...4"x 6"

This late afternoon was an experiment once more with
the Zorn palette...adding a bit more blue to the black
since an artist mentioned to me that the black Zorn used
in his day had more blue. Having not painted ducks as
much as in my earlier wildlife art career, thought I'd have
fun using the palette to play with the hen wood duck.

I did opt to use a bit of cobalt blue on the side for the
wing/feather colors...and the restraint of color throughout
much of the rest of the painting then would cause this
blue to feel even more irridescent.

What a pretty little lady this duck was...
















4"x 6" oil

I may paint a few more ducks in days to come, as a
number of folks (including my wife) have been pushing
me to perhaps enter some duck stamp competitions
again. Maybe work to aim at the Federal Duck Stamp
competition...
...felt a little rusty today, but it was fun using this palette
and the control for softness I had. Softness, is the one
detail of a bird or fowl that has to come across more so
than any other detail. Something I think quite a few
artists don't give nearly the consideration they should.