The Process of Painting

I'm often asked how I go about painting an animal or landscape. I thought you might be interested in seeing the process for One Mile to Go, a landscape that I posted a couple of days ago.

In 1997 I painted a little plein air oil on location in Bear Island at Ace Basin, a wildlife refuge about an hour south of Charleston, South Carolina.  Working from several photos of the area and using the plein air sketch, I came up with the finished painting.  So yes, I do work from photographic reference - but no, I don't 'copy' a photograph.  From both photo and plein air painting I took the idea of the shadows across the road and the dark trees with 'sky holes' and incorporated them into One Mile to Go.

 

The Road to Bear Island

6" x 4" painted on location in 1997

Reference photo

One Mile to Go

finished studio painting, 18" x 18"