Bison:

As I mentioned in the last painting on "What's on the Easel Now", I have spent my lifetime studying nature and wildlife. This is my 25th anniversary of being a professional wildlife artist. During all this time I have been amassing photographs, sketches, field paintings - and most importantly ideas. Below is a photo of me about 22 years ago photographing a bison in Yellowstone.

Bison are sort of "boring" animals to paint. Most photographs that you take of them they are just facing left, or facing right (usually eating) - so it's a challenge to try to come up with a "different and new" idea.

We have a wildlife refuge near us and James and I took a break one day when the weather was just to beautiful to stay inside. We came across a herd of bison laying in the sun and as I looked at them through my camera I was struck with the idea of doing a square painting with one bison up close filling the painting. I did the same type of idea with "RESTING RHINO" that is in my FORBES exhibit, so I think it was in my head as I looked at this scene. Following is the painting that came from that day.

Photographing bison in Yellowstone in 1986.

SORRY! I got so caught up in starting the painting I completely forgot to take photos of doing the background sage and bison! But in this photo those are done, and the foreground bison is blocked in a dark brown.

The drawing has now been transferred to the painting surface using the white artist transfer paper.

I have now "drawn" in the hair coat with off white paint. I like to do this to create a "depth" to the fur. Bison have an especially thick woolly coat that this technique works very well on.

I have done a brown unifying wash over the entire buffalo. Notice that the "under drawing" of off white paint still shows through.

Detail has now begun to be added to the bison fur and his nose and horns are done.

Here is the completed painting - entitled "BEDDED BISON" 12 x 12. This will be at the SETTLERS WEST Gallery Summer Show May 10.