Wildlife in Pastel and Acrylic

Descriptions of artwork on this page:

• Sunrise Burst at Bosque is a southwestern wildlife painting in acrylic. At Bosque del Apache, the bird sanctuary south of Albuquerque, the snow geese and sandhill cranes begin taking off at sunrise and sunset. This group of birds had just begun to display the noisy restlessness that comes at sunrise.


• Geese at Corn Lake is a fine art wildlife image in pastels. It depicts some domestic geese at a local fishing hole on a bright January day.


• Full Moon is a wildlife painting in acrylic. The image of a howling wolf evokes something primal in all of us. It was painted from a reference photo taken at a wildlife park near Yellowstone National Park.


• Sandhills Landing is a southwestern wildlife painting in acrylic. This image takes place at Bosque del Apache, the national wildlife refuge located south of Albuquerque, New Mexico. When the huge sandhill cranes come in for a landing they look prehistoric.


• 2 Geese and a GBH is a Colorado wildlife painting in acrylic. This is the field behind my fine art studio. Much of the winter, it is filled with Canada Geese picking through the snow and resting in the sun. This day, a Great Blue Heron landed at the edge of the field and sunned itself for most of the day.


• Sunrise at Bosque is both a wildlife acrylic painting and a fine art landscape of the Southwest. Bosque del Apache is a national wildlife refuge in New Mexico where approximately 500,000 snow geese and 50,000 sandhill cranes winter annually. Each day at sunrise and sunset the birds begin to move in bursts of thousands.


• Red Griz is a wildlife painting in acrylic on a smooth panel. It was fun to paint the detailed, realistic grizzly bear on a non-traditional, colorful background.


• Master Raven Regards the Mesa is a fine art wildlife image in pastels. There's a wonderful trail on BLM land close to my home. The trail has a great view of western Colorado's high desert and the Grand Mesa. Western Colorado is being developed so rapidly that this expanse of empty land could be full of houses soon. I loved the idea of this great raven watching over his kingdom.


• Storm's Coming is a fine art wildlife image in pastels. The wolf in this pastel painting looks fully equipped to handle whatever storm is coming. I enjoyed painting her bright-eyed, foxy countenance.


• Gliding Home is a Colorado wildlife painting in acrylic. During the winter season, the field behind my fine art studio is full of Canada geese, eating and resting in the sun. Around sunset, they take off in small groups and fly down to the Gunnison River for the night.


• Old Soul is a fine art wildlife image in pastels. This old polar bear looked like a veteran of the ice to me. In this moment of rest in a shaft of golden sunlight, he seemed almost reflective.


• Swan Landing is a wildlife painting in acrylic. While watching a swan land at a local lake, I observed a second or two of clumsiness before the graceful settling on the water. I wanted to paint that brief moment of blurred awkwardness.