The first painting of 2026 is a barred owl. I’m using a variety of photos I’ve taken in the past because while I like the owl in one of them, I wanted a different background.
I wrote a post a couple of weeks ago about how a painting percolates for a while before I ever get around to putting a brush to the canvas. This one took longer than most, because I wasn’t sure what approach I wanted to take.
Finally, I decided on what really amounts to two complete paintings – first the underpainting in grayscale. Once that is done I’ll begin adding the color in thin layers. The technique is called grisaille. Previously I’ve used one of the earthy colors for my underpainting. I’m curious whether or not this will give more depth to my actual color, or whether it will be too much underpainting for my taste. We shall see.
Barred Owl Progression
That’s it for now. I’ll add updates as I make enough progress to see a difference from one pic to the next.
Pigments in Use
For the grisaille I’m using soot black. When it’s time for any white, I’ll use paint that I made from titanium powder (outsourced).
Contact & About
email: madison@wildozark.com
phone: (479) 409-3429
The newsletter is monthly. My blog is sporadic, so if you want the posts to go to your inbox, put your email address below. Blog posts and newsletters aren’t always the same (very rarely are the same), so it won’t hurt to subscribe to both 🙂
I’m a nature-lover, real estate agent & artist. Sometimes, I also write things. I began using local pigments to paint scenes from nature in the Ozarks in 2018.
If you’re interested in buying or selling in rural northwest AR, get in touch with me by phone, text, or email. I’m happy to help! I have a separate website for my real estate blogging and information at WildOzarkLand.com.
All of my artwork is available in prints, and where originals are available, they are for sale. You can find all of that over at shop.WildOzark.com.
Call me “Roxann” or “Madison”, either one works.
For pretty much everything online, I go by Madison Woods, a pen name I adopted when I first began writing and then later with my art. For real estate, I use my real name, Roxann Riedel. And for my fiction, there’s yet another pen name: Ima Erthwitch.
Do you want to learn how to use your local rocks, soil, or clay to make paints?