New Painting Debut! “Up Close-Sally Lightfoot Crab”

“Up Close-Sally Lightfoot Crab” 20×46″ oil

Definitely a change of pace for me, this painting is the first one of three for the upcoming Sea of Cortez group show, which will open at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum on March 16, 2013. You can read about the trip and see some of the drawings I’ve done and photos I shot here.

While I was on the trip with 30 of my colleagues in March of 2011, we had access to a very nice fishing yacht whose owners generously took us out to an island that not only had these colorful, irresistible-as-subjects crabs, but also California sea lions and many species of birds.

I knew as soon as I saw them that I would want to paint one. Fortunately, there was also a Zodiac (small pontoon boat) that got us right up to the rocks. That and fast shutter speeds and I got some great reference.

Here’s the step-by-step of “Up Close-Sally Lightfoot Crab”:

Here’s how I was able to get such great shots. We were able to get REALLY close to them.

Reference photo; I knew from the beginning that I wanted to paint the crab BIG and crop in for a horizontal rectangle. I used other photos for comparison and to change the position slightly of one leg.

Preliminary graphite study, 7×17″;  to learn my subject, ensure that the composition worked and to establish the value pattern

Color rough,  6×14″; this is a really different color palette for me compared to the more restrained earth tones I use for my Mongolian subjects. Can’t remember the last time I used red and yellow pretty much right out of the tube.

Grid transfer in pencil; Raymar canvas board is tinted with raw sienna

The brush drawing. I realized after I’d done the one from the pencil drawing that the crab wasn’t nearly big enough, so I wiped if off and re-drew it. By this time I’d done the graphite study and the color rough, so I “knew” him/her pretty well and it didn’t take long.

First color pass

This is a little more than half-way there. The next step was to catch the background up with the crab and then move on to the legs and claws and then go back and tweak everything until it was done.

“Up Close-Sally Lightfoot Crab” 20×46″ oil

I thought I’d share some details of the crab and the background.

The crab was on a rock totally encrusted with barnacles. I had absolutely zero interest in painting 50 gazillion of them, so instead I analyzed the visual texture and values and then indicated those in a variety of colors and values.

But just to make sure the viewer knows what they are, I did a few more finished ones in the lower right hand corner.

The eyes were fun. The challenge was to get expression, to have the viewer feel that the crab is looking right at them.

The next painting for the show will truly be something completely different…a landscape with Nacapuli Canyon as its subject, with a special extra thrown in.

Mongolia Monday- Announcing The First WildArt Mongolia Expedition!

Bactrian camels, the Gobi, August 2010

I am excited and proud to announce an amazing artistic adventure! For the first time ever, American and Mongolian artists will travel to the Gobi of Mongolia for wildlife watching and then collaborate to create both an online and international art exhibition of the animals and their habitats, including endangered species like the Przewalski’s horse.

From September 1-22, the first WildArt Mongolia Expeditionwill travel to a part of Mongolia which is far off the tourist track…a nomadic journey to the southwestern Gobi, where we will visit the Altai Mountains, land of the snow leopard; the Dzungarian Gobi, where the last wild tahki (Przewalski’s horse) was seen in 1969 and where they were re-introduced to Takhiin Tal in the early 1990s; and a last remaining stretch of the legendary Central Asian grassland steppe, the Sharga, where one of the mostly highly endangered antelopes in the world, the saiga, is making a last stand. En route between these special destinations, based on my experience of six trips to Mongolia, we will see wonderful things every day since in the Land of Blue Skies, more than in most places, the journey really is the destination.

Khomiin Tal takhi, September 2006

Expedition arrangements are being made and staff provided by Nomadic Journeys, with whom I have traveled for five out of my six trips to Mongolia.

Updates on my own blog, a Facebook public page and a Board on Pinterest will help you follow along with the preparations and the expedition itself. I will do my best to help you feel what it will be like to travel to an extraordinary place and see the animals, land and people of Mongolia.

Coming up between now and departure will be the latest news, information and links on the featured species and the scientists who study them, profiles of the participating artists, information about gear and logistics and more.

Ovoo with the Mongolian national symbol, the Soyombo, Gobi, August 2010

Excerpt from the Expedition prospectus:

Expedition Mission: To travel to the southwestern Gobi and visit the habitats of and, with luck, see the following endangered species: snow leopard (very highly unlikely, but not totally impossible), takhi (Przewalski’s horse), khulan (Mongolian wild ass) and saiga antelope. There will also be many birds that we may observe, including lammergeier, steppe and golden eagles, cinereous vultures and a variety of songbirds, along with small mammals such as tolai hare and two species of foxes, and probably small reptiles such as lizards.

Expedition Goals:
- To observe these endangered species and explore their habitats, gathering reference for creating original art

- To teach Mongol artists (at least two of which will be coming with us) how to use their art to support conservation and to share our expertise in wildlife art fieldwork and drawing/painting outdoors, but also to learn from them about their country through their eyes as artists

- To meet the scientists who are doing research on these species, have an opportunity to learn from them and apply that knowledge to the art we will create

- To gather reference for a joint American-Mongol art exhibition which will be exhibited in both Ulaanbaatar and the United States

The Gobi after rain, grazing horses, August 2010

The WildArt Mongolia Expedition is “A Fourth Neighbor Initiative” of Art Partnerships for Mongolian Conservation (APMC is my non-profit association which works through the Conservation Biology Department of the Denver Zoo.) “Fourth Neighbor” refers to the government of Mongolia’s Third Neighbor foreign policy through which the country pursues close connections with countries like the USA, Korea and Japan as a counterbalance to being located between Russia and China. The US Ambassador, who I met with in Ulaanbaatar, the capital, last September, reacted with approval to the concept, as did the Director of the Arts Council of Mongolia. I see artists and other creative people as potentially important “fourth neighbors” for Mongolia, a country with an incredibly rich artistic heritage and many artists working today in a variety of media.

Maps of Mongolia and the Expedition area:

Mongolia country map with destination area

Expedition destinations by species

Note: The photos used to illustrate this post are from my previous trips to similar areas.

6 Thoughts About Color

Color is one of the things artists love about painting, but it can also be one of the most frustrating. There are lots of “rules” out there which try to make sense of it and they are a good starting point, but ultimately every artist, as with most other aspects of painting, has to find their own way.

Here are six thoughts on color, based on my own experience and information I’ve picked up over the years. Add some of your own in the comments!

1. Color is relative. How we perceive a color’s hue and value depends entirely on what’s around it.

2. Come up with a “color plan” for your painting. Decide if it will be monochrome, use complementary colors, analogous colors, etc. Do very small (5×7″ or smaller) color roughs, if necessary.

3. Value is how light or dark a color is, separate from what hue the color is. If you get the values right, you can do anything you want with the color.

4. A good rule of thumb is when you change the value, change the temperature. Warm highlights/cool shadows. Cool highlights/warm shadows.

5. While there are a variety of useful “rules” for using color, ultimately you do whatever works to let you say what you want to say.

6. Don’t be afraid of color. Go for it!

This post is illustrated with details from my latest painting in progress. Check back next Friday to see the whole thing, plus step-by-step photos.

And……I will have a major announcement on Monday about my next trip to Mongolia!

5 Photos Of Favorite Places- The Gobi

The legendary Gobi….what images it conjures up, some true and some not, as it turns out. A land of contradictions. A desert, but mostly without sand. A byword for dryness and lack of water, but rivers flow through it, there are lakes and it’s known as the source of the sweetest and best vegetables grown in the country.

I grew up in Redwood Country….forests. I’ve always loved forests. My mom loved the desert. Me. Not so much. Until I met this desert.

A view I love…a Mongolian earth road stretching out ahead as far as one can see, Juiy 2010

Time to milk the camels at the only herder’s ger for many miles. Got my first taste of camel’s milk airag, July 2010

It does rain in the Gobi and everything can turn green in a matter of hours, July 2010

My tent on Orog Nuur, a remote Gobi lake, just myself, my guide, the cook, hundreds of birds and gazillions of mosquitos. When camping in Mongolia, you can stop and pitch your tent pretty much wherever you want to, July 2010

Last glow of evening light on The Flaming Cliffs, made famous by Roy Chapman Andrews’ Central Asiatic Expeditions of the 1920s, Sept. 2006

5 Favorite Ways to Procrastinate

Alexander says “I haz a procrastinate”

1. Look through my reference photos-  never hurts to re-familiarize yourself with what you have, right?

2. Decide what I want to work on today- usually good for 10-15 minutes

3. Sweep the studio floor- when all else fails

4. Pet the cat- always good for a break when you didn’t even know you wanted one

5. Update my To Do List- this is REALLY important, of course, and must be done Right Now

Mongolia Monday- A Visit To The American Museum Of Natural History

I spent a great morning at the American Museum of Natural History during my recent quick visit to New York to attend the Society of Animal Artists board meeting and show jury.

This time I wanted to sketch and once again see the fossils that Roy Chapman Andrews’ Central Asiatic Expeditions brought back from Mongolia. I got to chatting with one of the volunteer docents and found that she knew the location of some Mongolia items that I hadn’t found on my previous visit in 2009.

The jackpot was an American flag that flew from one of the expedition vehicles. It was in a glass case that had been mounted on the wall in one of the stairwells, not exactly a prominent, easy to find location, so I appreciated the docent’s help a lot!

Here’s a “album” of photos from the museum, filled out with a couple from my previous trip, ending with a couple of iPad sketches I did.

American flag carried to the Gobi of Mongolia by one of Roy Chapman Andrews’ Central Asiatic Expeditions.

Closeup of the photo. I’ve helped push a vehicle or two on my trips, but without a dog to supervise.

The walls in the cafe closest to the Paleontology section are lined with photos of the Central Asiatic Expeditions to Mongolia. This one is of what Andrews dubbed “The Flaming Cliffs” which are located in an area the Mongols call Bayanzag (Place of the saxaul trees). I’m pretty sure I watched the sun go down along the lengthy of this butt in September of 2006. He used large caravans of camels to transport supplies and get them into position before the rest of the expedition arrived in motor cars.

Another photo from the cafe, this one showing the Expedition’s camp. The tents are “maikhan” or summer tents, which are lighter and even more portable than the better known felt gers.

Short profile of Roy Chapman Andrews. It has been speculated that he was one of the inspirations for Indiana Jones. And if you’ve read his biography, that’s not hard to believe, although there is no proof.

One of the fossils from Mongolia, a Psittacosaurus mongoliensis

Informational sign about the above fossil

Protoceratops fossil skulls of varying sizes; the expedition’s scientists found far more of these than any other species

A pair of protoceratops (image from 2009)

Although the Expeditions failed in their original goal, which was to find evidence that “man” had originated in Asia, not Africa, the find that electrified America was the discovery of the first known fossil dinosaur eggs. Andrews’ decision to sell one created a firestorm of controversy. (image from 2009)

Besides the flag, this was the other item from Mongolia that I’d missed on my previous trip, an amazing fossil of a female dinosaur which contains a egg with a recognizable embryo, something never before seen or found.

Finally, here are a couple of quick sketches I did of protoceratops skulls using ArtRage on my iPad.

“Enchanted Evening” Has Been Accepted Into “Art and the Animal”!

Enchanted Evening   36×40″ oil

I’m very proud to announce that my latest takhi painting “Enchanted Evening”,
has been accepted into the Society of Animal Artists’ 52nd Annual Exhibition of “Art and the Animal”. This is the fourth year in a row that I have had work in the show and they have all been Mongolia subjects, which pleases me a lot.

The exhibition will be held at the Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum, which is located in Oradell, New Jersey, and officially opens on the weekend of October 5-7. I plan to be there for all the festivities. More details later on as the opening approaches, but consider yourself invited!

The story behind the painting: Last August, nationally-known sculptor Pokey Park and I were on a two-week tour of the best wildlife watching locations. We were leaving Hustai National Park, one of the three places in Mongolia where takhi have been reintroduced, after a last horse-watching drive, which had already been very successful. Then, less than 50 feet from the road we spotted this small group of takhi coming down to a pool of water. We stopped and got our cameras ready. Would they come or not…

Trying to decide…

We’re thirsty!

And here’s a short video that I shot on my Flip HD. Unfortunately we ended up with a lot of cars stacked up behind us, just like a bear or bison jam in Yellowstone. One woman came up next to me out in plain view (I was behind the open door of the car, using it for kind of a blind) and spooked them, but at least they’d all been able to drink. Enjoy!

Mongolia Monday- Busy Week

I’m now in Denver, staying at the home of the President of the Society of Animal Artists, Diane Mason. She and her husband drove me up into Rocky Mountains National Park yesterday. On the way, in the adjoining National Forest, we saw a good-sized group of bighorn sheep, including a ram, right by the road and, in the park, hundreds of elk and a lot of mule deer.

Once I’m home I’ll post some side by side photos of argali and bighorns and rocky mountain elk and marel/ red deer. The latter look almost alike and are in the same genus, Cervus, but are different species.

We’ll go back into the park this afternoon and I’m hoping to get some video of the sheep. Got some of the elk yesterday.

Mongolia Monday- On The Road

I’m in New York for a Society of Animal Artists board meeting and show jury, but I might have some Mongolia-related news later on. Stay tuned!

Don’t Miss This Great Plein Air Workshop! Sign Up Now Before It Fills Up!

I’m extremely pleased to announce that my friend and colleague James Coe will be coming to northern California to hold his first ever workshop out here in July! Below are all the details. We expect his workshop to fill up, so get your reservation in soon! As I’ve made the arrangements, please direct any questions to me.

Source of the Saco by James Coe

Nationally known landscape painter, bird artist and author James Coe will be giving his first-ever West Coast workshop, “Plein Air Landscape Painting in Oils”, July 9-14, 2012, to be hosted by Westhaven Center for the Arts.

This will be an intensive 5-day program which will explore the challenges of working en plein air directly from the landscape and also introduce the traditional methods and materials of alla prima (direct) painting in oil. There will be a presentation and orientation session Monday evening which will include topics ranging from the history of plein-air painting to the preparation of homemade painting panels for use in the field.  The session will also include a step-by-step presentation of the instructor painting outdoors and in the studio, using plein air studies as references for larger studio canvases.

The workshop will be based at Westhaven Center for the Arts, which is located in Humboldt County on the beautiful and scenic north coast of California, about six hours north by car from San Francisco. Painting locations will include coastal seascapes and beaches, redwood forests and the nearby fishing town of Trinidad.

PLEIN AIR LANDSCAPE PAINTING IN OIL- Workshop information:

Instructor: James Coe
Dates: July 9-14 (Monday evening orientation, Tuesday-Saturday plein air sessions)
Workshop fee: $600 ($100 deposit due upon sign-up)
Class size: maximum of 10
Location: Westhaven Center for the Arts
501 S. Westhaven Dr.
Westhaven, CA 95570

Supply list, travel information and lodging/meal options will be provided upon registration (fee is for workshop only)

For more information or to reserve a space, call Susan Fox at 707 496 1246 or email her at sfox at foxstudio dot biz (email address format is to foil web crawlers; use normal format for emailing me)

Encroaching Shadows, Roadside Barns

About James Coe: Jim’s oil landscapes, which typically feature natural settings and rural scenes from New York’s Hudson River Valley and Northern Catskills, are recognized for their naturalistic palette and painterly handling.    

A signature member of the Oil Painters of America, and chosen in 2011 as a Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum Master Wildlife Artist,  Jim has been featured recently in PleinAir magazine, Western Art Collector and Wildlife Art Journal.   

His art has appeared on the covers of Sanctuary, Bird Watcher’s Digest, Birding World and The Auk, the professional Journal of the American Ornithologists Union.  He is represented in the permanent collections of the New York State Museum, Hiram Blauvelt Art Museum, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Massachusetts Audubon Society and the Bennington Center for the Arts.   

Jim lives with his wife and two children in a farmhouse on the western rim of the Hudson River Valley, where he continues to seek a balance between plein air landscapes and larger studio canvases of birds in natural settings.