Monday, March 22, 2010

Wildlife Art School!

Clare's Squirrel
Wildlife holds a deep fascination for all of us. I, for one, am not embarrassed to say I am a fan of Bateman, Seerey-Lester , Brenders and Banovich-all great realistic painters who breathe life into the animals they paint. They are popular because their art strikes a cord within. Unfortunately the ‘art world’ tends to dismiss those artists that resonate with the silent majority. I’ll get on my soap box in another post. Stay tuned!!

Clare was looking for help with the fur. Surprisingly, the more ’chunky’ the values are painted, the better the fur will look when the fine strands are place where they can be seen. She has captured the enviorment wonderfully. Her underpainting was in the warm tones-yellow ochre, light red and white.

Sylvie's KUDU
My good friends Marta and John experienced their dream of a lifetime-a Kenyan Safari! Marta brought back some great shots and is letting Hidden Talent students paint animals they might never see in the flesh.

Sylvie has finished an awesome tiger and is now painting a very large Kudu. It is such a royal animal; it deserves a lot of canvas. Her monochromatic is almost finish-she’ll be working on it during the break, I’m sure! It is so inspiring to see how excited she is every week when she comes to paint! She has found her calling-wild animals are definitely her style.

Sylvie lives on an acreage where there are lots of deer. This spring she had to rescue a new born fawn from a slippery wet area where it was born. She dried off the fawn, warmed it up and left it for mama deer to find. A happy reunion thanks to a kind heart!

Shawn's Panda
Shawn has travelled to the San Diego Zoo to observe the animals and take photos to base his paintings on. He became very interested in pandas and has dedicated his painting time to honour these fascinating animals. Shawn has also approached a gallery in another city who is excited to have his animal art on their walls!
We love having Shawn in class! This is an artist that researches methods and materials and SHARES his results! Shawn studies many techniques and artists and is the inventor of many 'artist friendly' gadgets. If there is a better or easier way to do something, Shawn will find it!