Experimental Elephant Painting

"Elephant Sunset" acrylic, 2013

I originally planned on doing a realistically colored elephant with some plants and other nature details in the background, but of course I got pretty bored with that approach. Instead, I played around with adding color to the elephant in such a way that it almost looks like I used chalk pastel instead of acrylic paint. I decided to do a fiery sunset background because I liked the contrast it made with the pale pastel colors on the elephant. I'm not sure that this painting turned out exactly as I would have liked, but it was certainly an interesting painting to work on.

Barn Owl Painting

I have my mom to thank for inspiring this painting. She sent me photos of some animals that she had seen while out in Tucson, Arizona. I was immediately drawn to the photos of the barn owl and decided to make this the subject of my next painting. I kept the colors fairly close to the real owl rather than adding or exaggerating the color as I often do in my paintings of other animals. I liked the contrast of the bright white owl glowing against the blue sky, so I tried to keep that feeling in my painting.

"Tucson Barn Owl" acrylic, 2013

New Dog Portrait: Jackson

I really enjoy painting dog portraits-so here's another one! This is a recent commissioned portrait of a Border Collie mix named Jackson. As Jackson is a black and white dog, I painted him in shades of blue and used warm colors for the background to make the painting more vibrant.

"Jackson" acrylic on canvas, 2012

Here is a pic posted by Jackson's person of the "Jackson" and "Bacchus" paintings hanging together in their home (I did a painting of Bacchus last year):

Boulder Flatirons Painting

I realized the other day that even though I've lived in Boulder for over six years I had yet to do a painting of the Flatirons. Many would call the Flatirons an icon of Boulder. I think technically the Flatirons fall under the category of "foothills." They are jagged rock formations that look like they shot up out of the ground. We have enjoyed a lot of hiking and climbing on and around the Flatirons, so I have positive associations with them, which I wanted to show in my painting. I chose to do a simple but colorful representation of the Flatirons, giving them a warmer color than they actually have when seen from such a distance (although, I noticed when climbing the Third Flatiron that the rock was actually very red in some sections).

"The Flatirons" acrylic, 2012

Sea Turtle #2 Painting

I've completed another sea turtle painting-this time for my brother's birthday. He really likes sea turtles. Maybe this runs in the family? I decided to create a composition that was more of a view from above rather than the side view that I used in my first sea turtle painting. I also chose a warm-colored sea turtle to create more of a juxtaposition with the cool-colored water. In contrast, the other sea turtle painting that I did ended up focusing on a very limited color palette and consequently the completed painting wasn't as visually appealing for me.  Happy Birthday Jon!

"Red Sea Turtle" acrylic on canvas, 2012