In between working on my grizzly I have several other oil paintings I am working on such as this 8"x10" painted on Ray Mar canvas.

I was asked about the varnish I use for my watercolors[gouaches]
I like 3-4 coats of spray fixative like Krylon UV resistant Clear Matt or Gloss. That is a preferance for individual taste. Some artists I know will even add a coat of UV Varnish brushed on or sprayed on afterwards. That would be to an artists taste but I don't.

Another day working on my Grizzly. I am trying to get the lighting on the Bear so he stands out and working on the Sage. Same problem-trying to adjust the values and get it to all work together.

I worked pretty diligently on this painting Christmas Day till about 3:00 when my wife and I took a trip up to the Sheep Range to check out the Bighorns.[Will be posting that on my Outdoor Adventures]On my last post Susan Roper asked about my background color. I used a mixture of Ultramarine Blue and Neutral tint. At times for something like this I will use Indigo. I have kind of established my lights and darks and though it doesn't show off quite as well in this post I got the shadows and textures on the snow bvank just like I wanted. Hope I won't have to go back in there as I'd hate to mess that up. The next big challenge will be getting the lights and darks on the bear and make all that work. A lot of the darks blocked in will be Sagebrush and Shrubby Cinquifoil though too early in this setting for flowers. Some grassses will help but to keep it scientific I'll have to be careful with that as a lot of grasses at this time of year will be very mated from the winters snow cover.

This morning I didn't like where things were going so I took out one of the pine trees and enlarged the grizzly. I had put in dark bands of snow in the background shadows but it didn't read properly so out they came. It is looking a lot better all ready.

I haven't done this in a while and several artist friends have drawn my attention to the fact. Recording a painting from start to end. So here is the start of a painting I have been tossing around in my head since last spring. I had taken some photos of a melting snow bank and thought it might work to include a grizzly just emerged from hibernation walking through the sage with this unmelted bank of snow. I have quickly sketched[painted]things in with watercolor mixed with gouache white on #1 illustration board. 15"x24". I have taped 5/8" of the edges with drafting tape. I am planning to use a mat color of some sort this width along with a heavier Oil type frame upon completion. The mat[if all goes as planned will be 3/4". I don't know yet if I will glass it or varnish with a watercolor varnish.

I do wish all my friends out there a very Merry Christmas and it is my hope that God's blessings will sustain you abundantly this coming year.

I have been working on this Oil Painting for about 3 weeks off and on and is a commission job for a collector I actually met on the trail out of Dubois a few years ago. It is 18"x24" and done in Oil from a photograph this fellow had taken. It was a great photo so well depicting the glacier country with Gannet Peak[highest point in Wyoming at 13,814']Such a beautiful area but sure is a job getting there. It was pure pleasure painting this scene.

SOLD

I have just finished this 8"x10" Oil Painting that I call "Monkey Flowers at Lakes edge".

This is a very beautiful wildflower that likes wet areas such as along this lake edge or along mountain streams. It also comes in a yellow variety and are often found growing together creating a tapestry of color for stream beds.

Finally a break in the weather. It has quit snowing and as of noon today it is above zero. +8 in fact. Funny how zero seems warm after so many days of below zero including -23 last night at 9:00pm. It must be because of our bodies climitizing?? That is the great thing about Wyoming. So cold one day and along comes a chinook[warm wind]that changes things right away. This little fawn who is enduring his[her]first Wyoming winter does not seem too impressed though. I just did photograph it outside my living room window.

It has turned bitter cold here since Thanksgiving. We have not had the snow some parts of the country have but there is several inches on the ground and with the last few nights at -17 and -18 and highs only to -3 yesterday and hoping to get that warm today we are feeling the effects of it. Ducks and Geese are seemingly enjoying the warmer river water outside my studio window. They look cold but I guess that warmer water is better than sitting out on the cold ground. Mist rising from the warmer water into the frigid air makes for a really surreal looking scene. All the trees and brush along the river are dressed in a heavy coat of frost and snow. It really is beautiful and some great painting opportunities. I just might have to try something with this photo I took.

My painting has really slowed down as I seem to be having trouble getting the swelling down on my foot to be able to start therapy on it. This morning I went to the Therapist practitioner and he put me in a vecroed getup from my knee to my toes. It is a nice massage type machine and in 30 minutes it was a wonder what it did. He sent it home with us so that might be pretty relaxing way to spend this afternoon.

I also have really slowed down on my Painting-a-Days. Will get back to them as soon as I can. Thanks all for your e-mails and comments. They really mean a lot to me.

God bless and Merry Christmas all.

I have been working on several small [8"x10" Oils]paintings of wildlife and have just finished this Mule Deer Buck in the snow. I had hoped to have several ready for the National 2-Shot Goose Show next weekend but we are loading out for it today so I have run out of time. I did this painting on a Raymar canvas panel.

Rock formations east of Shoshonie, Wyoming on way to Casper.
Tuesday afternoon my wife and I headed to Casper where yesterday morning I got to go to the surgery center at the Bone Doctors offfice where I was put out for about 10 minutes while they pulled out the hardware in my heel and then into a boot cast which is actually heavier than the cast I had on but it is removable. And that is a plus while sleeping. The fun part will be monday when I start physical therapy. I was given a prescription for pain pills but so far-knock on wood-I haven't needed them. I hear I will for the therapy sessions.
Our trip to Casper was uneventful but the return yesterday afternoon was not fun. A good old fashioned Wyoming blizzard hit and it was 200 miles of wind driven snow and temperatures falling to the single digits. It was 35-40MPH of white nuckle driving for my wife. Needless to say it was a long trip.
A side story:
JonRobinett, husband of Deb Robinett who does the amazing wildlife photography in our gallery,who is the ranch manager of a ranch NW of Dubois was relating my heel problem with an old rancher in southern Wyoming near where he was working at the time. It seems this fellow had an injury not unlike mine but thought that cast was hindering him from doing his ranch work so with a hammer and chisel he got the cast off only to discover the pins that stuck out from his heel in various directions. Now this really hindered him and he set off trying to remove them. When Jon came by he asked Jon if he would with the vise grips pull those suckers out as everytime this old timer tried it he would faint. Jon set out to explain to him that they were actually screwed into his bone and no way would they come out by pulling them. I don't think the Doc was too happy with our "hero" cowboy. Can you imagine?