Africa Framed: August 29, 2007

This is "Africa" in its frame. "Africa" is a 30"x40" original acrylic painting on stretched canvas. Sold.

Lilac & Swallowtail: August 29, 2007

This one is finished! "Lilac & Swallowtail" is a 5"x7" original oil painting on gessoboard. It was completed August 29, 2007. Purchase this painting.

Lilac & Swallowtail: August 27, 2007

I started the lilacs for this swallowtail. This painting is a 5"x7" oil painting on gessoboard. The details need to be added to the flowers and, of course, the butterfly still needs to be done.

Africa Finished: August 23-24, 2007

"Africa" is complete and a frame has been ordered!"Africa" is a 30"x40" original acrylic painting on stretched canvas.

Africa in Progress: August 22, 2007

The kudus were started. The painting is close to completion now. (Maybe.)

Africa in Progress: August 20, 2007

The last elephant has been added but still needs a few touch-ups. The grass also needs to be fixed around all the elephants' feet in order to ground them. Right now the bottoms of their legs are just floating.

Africa in Progress: August 18, 2007

Two elephants are romping around in this African landscape.

Africa in Progress: August 17, 2007

The giraffes have spots!

Africa in Progress: August 16, 2007

I began the giraffes but it became increasingly more difficult as the light diminished from the thick smoke in the valley. The smoke is from forest fires in Idaho. Visibility is about 1/4 of a mile. I feel like I'm on an island and the rest of the world has vanished. I thought about taking the painting outside for better light but the ash in the air would stick to the wet paint.

Africa in Progress: August 15, 2007

The wildebeest and jackal were painted in today. I adjusted the distant trees to make them appear farther away. I also worked the grasses a little more.

Africa in Progress: August 14, 2007

Well, it's starting to look like something now. Today I put in the foliage and grasses using acrylic paints.

Africa in Progress: August 13, 2007

I wasn't happy with the color in the sky so I tried several color mixes today. I am trying for a shimmery pale gold. I'll see how it looks tomorrow after it has dried overnight.

Africa in Progress: August 11, 2007

Today, I put paint to canvas, working on the sky and background color.

Africa in Progress: August 10, 2007

I transferred the Africa drawing onto a 30"x40" canvas.

Bigfork Trip: August 4, 2007

Today, I went to an art & craft show in Bigfork, MT. It was a great show with lots of quality vendors. Bigfork is a beautiful little artist community on Flathead Lake.
Unfortunately, Bigfork's complete splendor couldn't be appreciated today because of dense smoke from nearby forest fires. The artists and crafters occasionally had to dust off ash from their artwork.
I took photos of the smoke on my trip home. There are a couple of very large fires, the Chippy Creek fire which produced the smoke that covered the northern end of Flathead Lake including Bigfork, and the Jocko Lakes fire which is near Seeley Lake. I could see the Jocko Lakes fire from as far away as Polson to the north and as far as Stevensville to the south. Approximately 200 homes were evacuated because of the Jocko Lakes fire. It's immense!
The top photo shows smoke from the Chippy Creek fire that obscures the near distant mountains and gives a near-dusk feel although this was taken while the sun was still high in the sky. The second photo shows smoke hanging in the trees. The bottom photo shows smoke from the enormous and dangerous Jocko Lakes fire.

Africa in Progress: August 3, 2007

Yesterday and today, I made to-scale drawings of the major components of the painting. My next step is to get them laid out, double check the perspective and proportions, and draw out the supporting landscape pieces (trees, bushes, etc.).

Africa in Progress: August 1, 2007

I worked all day today on the drawings that I did before making sure the perspective is correct and working on some new layouts. This is the most time-consuming part of creating a large complex painting.