This is how it all starts

Rough in Pencil stage

With every painting it all has to start somewhere.  But even before I get to the point of drawing on the canvas.  Many hours of work have already been invested in the painting.

 I've got to decide first on what I want to paint

    With this painting I knew it was going to be a Wildlife painting.  I've been wanting to paint another Elk too.  So I started thinking about Elk and their environments.  I watch videos on YouTube of Elk in the wild.  I also knew that this painting will be put up for Auction in Price Utah, so some place in Utah.  When I would talk to people about this painting, I would tell them about the Elk then I kept saying it will be in the Uintas somewhere.  So it is going to be an Elk in the Uintas.  Also after talking with a guy I work with at the Provo Temple.  I told Him I wanted some type of fury small animal hidden in the rocks up front in the lower right corner.  We tossed ideas around of various animals, weasel, ferret, wolverine, marmot, wood chuck and so on.  Then he came up with the idea of a wolf.  I suggested not up front being too large an animal there, but in the back ground, hidden in the trees.  So now I've got an Elk and a Wolf.  Having the Wolf will add a bit of tension and excitement to my painting's Narrative.  But I still need a small animal in front.  So after pondering about it, I came up with a Female Grouse and a nest of eggs.

Research Time

    Now that I know who, what and where it is time to do research into those areas. 

•  Knowledge about the subject: history, location, structure, anatomy and so on

        I started by doing more research on Elk, Wolves and Grouse.  Also I did research into the habitat of these various animals and the Uintas.

•  Plein Air

        I went out a couple of times to do some plein air paintings for this painting.  The first day I got chased away by a lightning storm ( I didn't want to get struck by lightning in the middle of an empty meadow).  Then on a second day I just couldn't find a place that had what I was needing.  So I'll just use some of my old plein air paintings as reference.

•  Reference photos, both on site and internet

        While out getting chased by lightning I took plenty of pictures.  Also I spent a few hours on Google doing image searches.  These I just use as rough references.  I don't copy any of them.

•  Early sketches

        Once I know roughly what I want, I start doing sketches to work out many of the problems of size and arrangement of the various elements of the painting.

The are sketches from an earlier post

Couple of oil studies of Elk with different painting techniques

• What size

    Well I knew I want to go bigger then what I usually go with, because this was going to help this sick little boy.  Bigger is better.  After spending time looking at canvas of various sizes I first decided on the standard size of 22 inches high by 28 inches wide.  But as I thought about it maybe bigger was better.  So now I'm going with 30 by 40 inches.

• What am I going to paint it on

    At first I wanted to painting this on a board.  Either canvas board or Hard board with 4 - 5 coats of Acrylic Gesso.  But I didn't have anything of the sizes I was looking to paint on laying around the studio.  So I went out to see what various art and craft stores in the area had in stock.  But no had what I was looking for in boards.  So I went with a canvas instead.  Plus a canvas at that size (30 x 40) will be much lighter.

• Time of day

    Evening, magic hour.  A time of warm light and cool long shadows.

• Direction of the lighting

    Right to left with the sun way off of the canvas to the right.

• What will be the narrative of the painting

    I'm still not completely sure of this.  But it is taking on a life of it's own as I place the various animals and elements in the painting.  For me personally the Elk represents a feeling of grandeur and noble strength.  The Wolf hiding in the shadows of the trees, darkness and ill intent.  The Mother Grouse sitting on her eggs, innocents and motherly protection.

• What over all feeling am I looking for

    I'm just going to see where this one takes me.

• What two main colors will be represented in the painting

    Yellow-Orange / Violet.

Meditation / letting all this information just sit and Stew

Hours spent just sitting and/or laying on my back thinking about and visualizing all the various elements of the painting.  This is the goal setting part of the painting.  If I don't know where I'm going how will I get there or know when I've arrived.

Once all this is done and I've rough the painting in I'm finally onto the next stage, Inking.

A Mistake!! What's the World Coming to?

16 X 20 oil on board "The Forbidden Fruit"

Every so often I get asked what do I do when I make a mistake.  I have to chuckle a bit with that.  Because for me my paintings are just numerous assorted layers of mistakes.  Through hard work, lots of patience and wisdom.  I have learned what to continue to work on and what to leave alone with each painting. Over time it becomes a beautiful painting. It is a process of learning and growing.  Mistakes are just evidence of refining work being done.  Over the years I've developed a process of using mistakes to get better at painting.

To use the mistake process you must first know what it is you are trying to do.  Saying that you want to create a beautiful picture isn't enough.  This is a type of goal and the more specific you can get the easier it will be to learn, grow and get better. 

So for example I'm working on Plein Air paintings.  My current goal is I want to paint paintings that are warm and friendly, eye catching, strong tonal and temperature contrasts and simple brush work with an easily defined focal point.

Every time I sit down and paint I'm going over these goals in my head.  I'm making choices based on them.  Also I've learned that once you put down a stroke don't go back and fiddle with too much.  Be confident in your brushstrokes.  If you fiddle with the brushstrokes too much you'll just end up with a muddy over worked tired looking painting. 

Once the painting is done enough, it's time to compare it to your goals.  This is where I perform a kind of autopsy on my painting.  The key to this part is asking questions.  Your brain will in time find the answers.  So start asking.  Why did or didn't it work?  What could I do next time?  What goals did I get close to and why?  What artist that I like are able to achieve the goals I've set successfully? What is the difference between their painting and mine? Then sit back and ponder.  This is just giving you brain time to find the answers.

Once you get an answer then you may want to further refine your goals or go and do another painting, repeating the whole precess again. 

Focal points and Goals

12 X 16 oil on board "Old Saunders Barn"

I read an older and well read article in the 2007 issue of American Artist magazine, titled "Attracting the Viewer's Eye With Skillful Simplicity" by Linda S. Price, about an artist by the name of Doug Higgins and his Plein Air paintings.  I have read this article many times, however this time, my attention was drawn to one thing in particular that he said about one of his objectives of Plein Air paintings.  He said, "[m]y goal is simplicity.  Complexity is easy - anyone can achieve that through thoughtless copying of details.  You need intelligent strategies to keep it simple."  In my case, I think he is right.  I've been somewhat thoughtlessly jumping into Plein Air paintings, assuming that my many years of painting would bring it all together, but they haven't. 
My old mentor, Greg Olsen, was right when he said that until you do something, you won't know what real questions to ask or know what it is that you really want.  I've painted several Plein Air paintings and I'm just now beginning to understand what it is that I really want from them.  Up until now, I've been going out and just, "thoughtless[ly] copying".  Even in my most recent experience, I jumped in and started noodling to early (to noodle is to use a liner brush to make small excessive details). 
I have learned that I need to take a little more time before I start, think about what I want my main focus to be and lay as much of the painting out in my mind as possible.  In essence, I am presetting my goals for the painting, even before I apply the first stroke of color.  Then, as the painting progresses, not losing sight of my original goal.  With that in mind, I hope to take a little time to determine my end goal for the painting and work to hold to it.  My plan is to do another painting of this same farm, from a different angle.  I would like to express my thanks to the owners of the property who have generously allowed me access in my endeavors.

Back to Pen and Ink!

12 x 16 Pen and Ink

I decided to try something that has been kicking around in my head for a while.  I decided to try doing a Pen and Ink drawing in the wood block engraving style and then use this as the tonal under painting.  To get the greys I just used mineral spirits to wash in the area with the most ink.  Doing this step reminded me how much I enjoyed doing Pen and Ink drawings and back to old days of being an illustrator.  Also as an added dimension to this painting is that so much of cowboy and western equipment has engraving decorations on them.

12 x 16 Mixed Medium

Now I've added some color.  The background is painted in with the trees and barn.  Plus I've roughed in the dirt.  I'm trying to paint thin enough that the ink drawing shows through, thus adding to the over-all detail of the painting.

12 x 16 Mixed Medium

Now the fence is painted in and so is the ground and the Bull.  One of the things I'm trying to do with this is that the Pen and Ink drawing was full of precise detail, but the oil painting is loose and painterly.  With here and there a little bit of the ink drawing showing through.  So far I'm loving the effect.  But this is just a 12 x 16 inch painting, recently I had someone inquire about me doing a 4 x 5 foot painting.  Just thinking about putting down that much ink is making me a little nervous.  So we will see.