Who Gives a Hoot?

Still wet on my easel

I have been working on this particular 18 x 24 piece for a good part of a week now.  This summer I had the sheer pleasure to see a great horned owl up close and personal as one fine specimen choose the tree next to our camper to spend a hour or two just checking things out.  For some time he and I, (well I assume he was male but I'm not positive of the gender) just stared into each others eyes.  I think this may actually be my first owl encounter and it left me completely inspired!

Those eyes were amazing.  I guess I never stopped to consider just how "YELLOW" they really are.  Well, I have been hooked ever since.  

I painted this as an acrylic under painting and then glazed it with a coat of oil paint.  This is the first time I have painted with oils in close to 3 years and I really enjoyed the process.  I have just a few more touches and highlights to add and then of course there is the time it takes for the oil paint to dry completely so I can add a final coat of varnish.  Maybe I am premature to blog about a painting that admittedly isn't completely finished, but I get so excited that I just can't help myself.  I LOVE BEING AN ARTIST!

SOLD

This piece is my 2nd full scale painting that features this beautiful animal.  The first one was painted with acrylic on a 10 x 20 canvas and I was thrilled when it sold shortly after I hung it for viewing at the Boulder City Art Gallery.

Reference photo taken by Allison Henderson of Beatty, Nevada

Isn't he just gorgeous? This is the reference photo I used to paint this magnificent creature was taken by a Nevada photographer, Allison Henderson who lives in Beatty, Nevada.  Allison and I belong to the same Nevada Photographers Facebook page and had never met until the above mentioned "owl sighting".  She posted this picture on Facebook and I immediately commented that I had seen an owl the same day near Ely, Nevada.  To my shock I discovered that Allison was also in Ely when she took her photo.  A few exchanges back and forth and we discovered that we both were actually vacationing in the exact same RV park. ( I want to give a shout out to the Valley View RV Park.  It is a great place to vacation while in Ely.) Allison snapped this picture while driving near the golf course in Ely but because that is only across the highway from the RV park I have a strong feeling that this was the very same owl that I had seen that same morning.  

There is Just Something Stunning about Birch Trees

This week I have been working on a large 24 x 36 acrylic painting that I think I'm going to call "Autumn Gold".  This painting was inspired by a collection of photos that we took while on an October hike, with my oldest son on the Galena Creek Trail, near Reno, Nevada.  A beautiful hike and has been a continued inspiration for me as I have produced a number of paintings in this past year from the photos we took.

There is just something amazing about the color and contrast that birch trees bring to a mountain slope.  The leaves have a quality that make them almost appear to sparkle when there is a gentle breeze blowing across of the mountain side.  The white of the bark glows and provides a striking contrast to the heavy pine trees in the area.

With this piece I've attempted to capture that feeling of a crisp October afternoon as you walk along a small mountain stream somewhere in the mountains.   The sounds of the breeze and water fill your ears as you stand frozen just drinking up that peace and beauty.

I might add a little bird in the pine tree but haven't decided for sure. I have used a paste medium additive to my paints for the first time.   This gave me a thicker application that I actually applied with a palette knife to give that impression of heavy bark on the pine tree.  That was fun and I think the final results turned out just as I had hoped for.