Untamed Land

Untamed Land
Untamed Land

Saturday, September 27, 2014

What to Paint Next?

Before getting around to showing photos of the current project, I will put up some random photos that happen to be in the same folder. Above is a bear paw print on the banks of the Eagle River.
I have posted this photo before but this is Sandy Quimby comparing her hand to the paw print of a truly massive Brown Bear along Eagle River.
A nearby Belted Kingfisher.
The Eagle River Valley in July.
The local Trumpeter Swans are currently staging for their eminent departure, as are most waterfowl. The local lakes will be frozen over in less than a month.
Although I do not enjoy painting Sea Otters, I know that it is about time to do a new painting of them. Why do I dislike painting them? Because I can never come up with an interesting composition for them. Like usual I just settled for cute, rather than creative. It will certainly sell if I can make myself paint it.
Before resigning myself to painting the Sea Otters, I came up with an alternative idea; Hudsonian Godwits. It is a less than brilliant composition as well. I would rather paint these birds than the Sea Otters. However this idea requires further development.
With a sigh of resignation I started laying down some paint to the otter painting. It is 11x14". We will see how it progresses.

4 comments:

Marc Calvo said...

Hello John,i think that the sea other could be a good subject to paint and also its not much represented in wildlife art; i still to decide what i paint the next too, afther a slowly recobery of my failed and fustrating participation in wildlife art exhibition in England,i turn to begining to paint an ancient bison of Siberia and clarefy many wrong data of the "bison deminutus" post ,i have to find a more suitable wildlife art site for achieve results.

john said...

Marc,
I feel bad about your failed art exhibition. I cannot count all of the art shows that I have had that were a complete bust.
This is why I need to have a regular job that I can depend on. It is all very discouraging.
Good luck with your Bison painting.

Marc Calvo said...

John you have more experince than me in this terrain,but i belive that its not necessary to send the work in much artshows its only a convination of a diferent strategies but made in an acurate precision,promoting online in precise sites,send works in a precise organizations where tey may connect with the style,talking with a concret painters that connect with your work;for example my stile are not much connected in my area because my paintings are related in the boreal environments and my tendence its to paint in a big size,and also the wildlife art its an emerging subject in our society i belive that slowly increase the demand of this kind of pictures.

John Holmes said...

That is a seriously large bear footprint. Nice Belted Kingfisher shot, too.
Good Luck with the Sea Otters, they must be a challenge.