Buffalo in progress (top right section)

I began throwing down some oil several days ago over the acrylic under painting. Still have to work on this area and the rest of the piece. Just wanted to share the progression of the top right quarter of painting. So much for finishing this by the 21st. Life is full of distractions and sometimes I just tank out. Must.....p...p...paint :) It was a good goal!

"On a Wing and a Prowl" Part 2 (revised) Oil - 24" x 36"

Here's the revised piece that I thought I was finished with a while back. Some of the color is more intense in person.

"Delicate Diffusion" Mixed - 13" x 19"

Well, I learned a lot on how NOT to go about creating a piece with this painting. My original plan was to do this in colored pencil and acrylic while working on another separate oil painting. I ended up using oil over both mediums and finishing it off that way. The background in the original is a bit more blue in appearance. It's always a bit of a challenge trying to match the original on the computer. Happy to be moving on to another painting. Hope you enjoy!

My Current Preliminary Steps

Sketches, Ref. & Research - I begin with small sketches of ideas. Sometimes I'll get inspired by a spontaneous line, a wrinkle on a paper or anything, and it evolves from there. The sketch on the top left is my first one. After taking photo reference and researching cranes and water buffalo online I decided to do another sketch. The final result after a few hours of fiddling with it is the middle image. Don't ever be satisfied with your first sketch. Do several and just have fun taking photos and researching!
Transferring & Maquettes - After a satisfying sketch I freehand the image on canvas with pencil, making changes and corrections along the way. It helps to have a great artist as a friend to critique your work before moving along as well :) http://ericfortuneart.blogspot.com/ Next if needed, I build maquettes using clay and other materials, take photos and establish forms. James Gurney is great at this and his work is awesome! http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/ He inspired me to create reference maquettes. The final drawing on the right is 24"x 36".
Color Study - I used to not do color studies but after struggling with my last painting I thought it would be best to take a couple hours to do so in photoshop. This is a really rough color study. Ultimately, it helps the painting process move faster. So, after hours and hours of preliminary steps it's time to spend hours and hours on the final painting.

In the final the foreground figure and crane will have crisp lines and the background will remain unfocused, something I've been experimenting with a lot recently and I dig it. I also plan to create the appearance of soft fur on the ground. The whole process currently works best for me and I encourage anyone out there to take the time out in the beginning. Believe me, you and your painting will significantly benefit from it. Thanks for reading and I hope it's inspiring!

Buffalo Maquette

Just finished painting this crazy guy today. It was made in the same way as the crane in my last post. Didn't have to build the entire buffalo since some of it is cropped on my drawing. Now that I'm done with all three maquettes it's time to finish photos, establish the forms on canvas and work on a color study before throwing some paint down. I'm giving myself two weeks to finish a 24" x 36" painting. It's not impossible for me but damn near insane! No sleep........

The Rough Crane Maquette

Here's the final crane maquette. Around 10" x 14". After some thinking, I decided to wrap some old cotton socks with foil for the body. I then used a rolling pin to make thin layers of clay to surround it. It reduced the weight and use of clay. The legs are made from a close hanger painted black. Paper was used for the curls and pointing wing. It's all constructed from several separate pieces and is now ready to serve as my reference for my next painting. Two more maquettes to finish and then photo time.