Painting Progression4 - Winter Really is a Blast!

In the final stage of this illustration, I add a sprig of holly to give it a Christmas feel, which is important for licensing.  I apply a glaze over the entire painting to unify all of the colours and to create a tonal cast upon which I will paint my final highlights.  The glaze is a weak mixture of ultramarine blue made extremely transparent by combining with a large proportion of mat acrylic medium.  I mix them together well, and then apply this evenly over the entire surface of the picture.  Once it is dry, I repaint some of the snowflakes and the highlights on the main subject with pure white to make them stand out.  A signature is added and the picture is finished.

Painting Progression3 - Winter Really is a Blast!

I accentuate the shadowing on the scarf before adding a snowflake pattern to the material.  I continue to add detail, both light and shadow, on the fur, eyes and features of the polar bear's face.  More modelling is also added to the mitten.  The last thing that I do at this stage is to paint snowflakes in the air.  I add 'speedlines' to suggest a driving snow storm, in keeping with the title of the piece.  This also creates another illustion of animation in the painting.

Painting Progression2 - Winter Really is a Blast!

In this stage I continue to block in flat , local colours on the touque, scarf and mitten.  I add simple detail to the bear's fur, nose and eyes and create a little texture on the fuzzy edge of the touque.  I have just started to suggest a lighting scheme in the fur, with a warm cast on the upper right and a cool blue cast on the lower left.  The picture now has a loosly defined colour scheme to build on.  Any mistakes can easily be corrected as I move forward from here, since I haven't commited myself to much detail yet.

Painting Progression - Winter Really is a Blast!

This is a new illustration image that I created for art licensing purposes.  I call this one "Winter Really is a Blast!"  It might do well on greeting cards or flags.  I am working on acid-free illustration board, using acrylic paint over a pencil drawing.  I have drawn the bear leaning into the picture on a bit of an angle to create a feeling of action.  In the first step I blocked in a simple background, delineating my subject and defining the design shape.  I start to block in some basic details with a mixture of ultramarine blue and lamp black on the scarf, touque and face.

Mikey

"Mikey" is one of the horses that are boarded at our farm. I painted Mikey for his owner in a small format, just 6.25 inches by 9.25 inches. When I do these small portraits I usually work in acrylic, as I did here. I did the painting on acid free art board and I worked in several layers of wash, particularly on the coat, then increased the level of opacity as I added detail to the horse's features and bridle. By painting the background in a heavy impasto in a very loose manner, I created an illusion of greater realism in my subject. The black bridle seems to pop out in contrast to the rich red coat of the horse, while the contrasting blues and greens of the background makes the subject dominate the painting. Carefully placing the highlight in the eye makes the whole thing come to life. As always, prints are available or I can be commissioned to paint your horse or pet.

Snow Day!

One of the great things about living in Canada when you are a child is winter. Adults may dread it, often finding the cold and snow a hardship to deal with, but children look forward to it all year long. The great thing about a northern winter to a child is lots of snow! When the weather gets stormy, most school buses do not venture out and many schools close for the day entirely. This creates an unscheduled holiday that kids really appreciate.

I created this painting as an illustration for art licensing. I wanted it to be colourful and dramatic in order to convey the excitement of the children. I used my granddaughter Ashley as a model for both the boy and the girl. My work boots fit Frosty perfectly! I added the glow of the sun to warm up an otherwise cool setting. The painting is 9 inches by 12 inches, painted in alkyd on board.

Sleigh Ride!

This painting has been very popular for my collectors and also licensing clients. It is the perfect Christmas image, both nostalgic and exciting! The horses are galloping briskly along the roadway with a frisky dog leading the way. The period dress of the sleigh's occupants suggest Victorian times, when horse and sleigh were the main mode of winter transportation. You might also notice a buffalo skin rug in their laps, which was used to keep travellers warm. The old wooden pump in the lower right corner is now a thing of the past. These pumps were carved entirely out of wood by skilled craftsmen!

The limestone house in the background was once owned by my wife and I. The beautiful blue spruce tree stands just as I have painted it, beside the house in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The historic stone church in the background actually exists in Barriefield, just across the Rideau River.

I chose to paint a colourful winter sky in keeping with the animated feeling of the overall painting. This gave me the opportunity to reflect all of these colours in the snow and gives the picture additional life. The painting measures 18 inches high by 24 inches wide. It is painted in alkyd paint on a canvas support. The original is not for sale, but prints are available at: http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/richard-de-wolfe.html Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!