Spring in Your Step

 

Inquire through Cassens Fine Art - 24x36 - framed

On this, the day before Thanksgiving, I am especially grateful for wildlife photographers who go out there with the bears and other dangerous animals and get great photos that I can paint from. : ) I hope you all have a lovely day tomorrow filled with good food and naps.

Brash Bear

 

Click Here to Bid (6x8in. - starts at $100)

I wanted to experiment with the colors of this bear, so I put the photo on my ipad and opened it in Infinite Painter. I created a layer over the photo layer and tried out a few color combos before I landed on one I liked. Then I painted something similar in oil. I'm quite happy with how this process worked out! I've even begun playing around with other photos for potential future paintings. The great thing is that I can do this in the evening when I'm sitting and resting my neck, and then paint during the day. : )

Big Bear Yawn

Click Here to Bid (4x5in. - GOUACHE - starts at $75)

I used to be absolutely terrified of bears. Whenever I camped, I was awake half the night, paralyzed with fear. The only way I ever fell asleep was out of pure exhaustion. I think it took actually encountering a few bears out in the wild, and watching them turn tail and run away - more scared of me than I was of them - to lessen my fear. I still carry bear spray on hikes, (just in case) and am careful to make noise and be "bear aware," (especially now that I live in an area with grizzlies), but I am no longer up half the night when I camp. And I can see them as cute now instead of vicious. : )