redneck roots

No, I’m not wearing cowboy boots and humming a country song as I write this, but I do drive a pick up truck, (whatever that’s worth) and every once in a while I like to circle back and revisit themes that used to be more prominent in my paintings. One of the more prominent of those historic themes being wildlife art. A genre in painting that took a justifiable downturn in marketability a few years back due to prints, and limited editions that weren’t very limited, and everybody and there brother picking up a camera and an airbrush and calling them selves a “wildlife artist.” I was one of those peeps years ago, but it didn’t take me long to figure out that good art was good art, no matter what the subject, and that most of what occupied the genre was as cheesy and gimmicky as one of those choreographed teeny-bopper boy bands.

But what can I say, I’m an outdoorsy type, and many of my artistic heroes still would be classified as “wildlife guys.” Guys like Carl Rungius, Bob Kuhn, Luke Frazier, Ken Carlson, and Robert Bateman. These are painters that understood what good art was at its foundation and simply chose to depict animals and their habitat to communicate their vision. They are master draftsman and students of anatomy and movement.

So I decided it was about time I embrace my pick-up-driving, camouflage-wearing heritage, and paint a deer:)

In all seriousness, I’m a whitetail nut. They are a fascinating and beautiful animal, and it’s been years since I’ve painted one, so I guess my challenge is seeing whether I can bring anything new to the table that would vault this piece beyond the average cliche of wildlife art. We’ll see. I’m about half done, it looks mostly there, but I still have a ways to go. Hopefully can finish it up in a week or two. I’ll post again when I’m finished.

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