Category: My Earthy Painting Process
Follow along through the steps I take to create an earthy painting. My process isn’t pretty, as I tend to make mistakes. But things usually turn out alright in the end 🙂
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Kings River in Winter | Ozark pigments in oil
The new year of 2023 kicked off the first oil paintings in my Kings River Four Seasons series. The one I chose to start with first is the winter scene. I’ll rotate through them to work on one while layers …
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Kings River Paintings | Four Seasons
So many excellent paintings of the Buffalo National river and the surrounding natural areas exist, but I haven’t seen many King’s river paintings. While both rivers begin in our local area, Wild Ozark is in the Kings river watershed. And …
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Update on the Gecko Paintings
I’m in the process of painting the third of three different geckos for a ‘Unique Pet’ portrait commission. I’m almost finished now with the painting phase of this project. After the last little gecko is finished, I’ll frame them and …
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Limited Palette | Working with Only the Local Pigments
When I first started painting with the Ozark pigments, I wasn’t sure yet whether I would be able to make good art with a handful of colors. It’s a very limited palette of earthy tones ranging from white to black, …
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Highlander and Longhorn Cow | Painting Process for ‘Best Friends’
Every year for their birthdays, the grandkids pick the subject they want me to paint. And every time we do this, their requests are getting more and more challenging. The latest one I’ve started is a scene that includes two …
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The Making of “The Forager” Painting | Black Bear
It’s sleeting on this chilly January morning as I gather my board and easel. I’m about to get started on The Forager painting. The subject is a young black bear munching on wild grapes. Note: ‘The Forager’ will show …
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Weesatche, Texas | Another Farmstead Painting
I’m working on a painting for my husband’s Christmas gift. It may not be finished in time, but it won’t be too long afterwards before I’m done. It’s the house where his aunts lived in Weesatche, Texas. It was a …
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Great Horned Owl Painting in Progress
I’ve long wanted to do a Great Horned Owl painting, since I drew up the list of birds of prey and put them on my To-Paint list. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of it at the very beginning. So …
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Painting of a Farm | Progression Page
This painting of a farm, as seen from the front door of the farm house, was a commission for a real estate agent (my daughter) to give the seller. It was a difficult necessity that led the owner …
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How Did the Buffalo National River Get its Name? | “Namesake”
I bet you’d already guessed it. The namesake of the Buffalo National River is … the buffalo. But that’s a misnomer. What we call ‘buffalo’ are actually bison. The American ‘Buffalo’ is really an American Bison. Before Europeans arrived on …
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Yellow-Billed Cuckoo | Rain Crow | Madison’s Earthy Art
It’s almost that time of year again when the rain crow, also known as yellow-billed cuckoo, starts calling. This is another one of those often heard but seldom seen critters that live out here at Wild Ozark. The other …
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Soul of the Ozarks | The 6th Painting | Red Fox Kit
My 6th painting was a special request by my granddaughter. She loves wildlife and wanted me to paint a fox. Her actual favorite was a kit fox, but instead I painted a red fox kit. I had a good photo …
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Painting in Progress: Dr. Carter’s Office
My current painting in progress is one of the buildings on the grounds of the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, located in Springdale, Arkansas. Dr. Carter’s Office was moved to the museum at a later date, but started life in …
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A Bearded Dragon in Ozark Pigments | Painting Process
It’s not an Ozark critter, for sure, but I had a photo of my grand-daughter’s Bearded Dragon and so I painted it today. A print for Karter is already framed and ready to deliver for her birthday. This was a …
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Stones to Grind | A Fantastic New Interview and Publication
Lisa J. Tomey interviewed me way back in 2019 for an article to be published in Okra Magazine. Just when it was about time for it to run, Covid struck and that article got pushed back on the publisher’s …
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Showy Orchis (Galearis spectabilis) in Ozark pigments
Originally, I had planned to do a series of my favorite woodland plants in grayscale. But that was before I found the stone that gives me a sort of green pigment. So changed up the plans a little. Now I’m …
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SOUL OF THE OZARKS | The 5th Painting
My 5th painting was a special request by my sister. She loves pelicans and wanted me to paint one for her. This is the story of my journey into the world of being a watercolor painter. My angle on this …
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SOUL OF THE OZARKS | The 4th Painting
After the second kestrel, which was the third painting, I thought I’d try another kestrel. I had another good photo to work from and I’d come to really love the colors and form of kestrels. By this time I was …
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Cow Portrait | Whisper, the Brahman cow | Painting Process
The first painting of 2021 is also the first of its size, and the first using a single source for pigment. But it is my second Brahman cow portrait. ‘Brahman Baby‘ was the first. This is my progress …
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SOUL OF THE OZARKS | The 3rd Painting
Still in July 2018, and still in Qatar visiting Rob, I decided to try a 3rd painting. I’d do another kestrel and see if I could do it better this time. Because it was so hot outside during daylight hours, …
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SOUL OF THE OZARKS | The Second Painting
Honestly, while I was delighted that my handmade watercolors worked alright for my first try, I wasn’t real pleased with the painting itself. So I decided to try a second painting. This is the story of my journey into the …
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SOUL OF THE OZARKS | Part 1 | The First Painting
This is the story of my journey into the world of being a watercolor painter. My angle on this is a bit different than most other artists I know, in that all of my paints are made from pigments I’ve …
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Painting a Raccoon in Ozark Pigments on Black Paper
I’m working on painting a raccoon on black paper. It’s the first time I’ve painted on black, and the experience is very different from anything else I’ve tried to paint. As I was deciding which paper to put it on, …
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Behind the Scenes | Wildlife Art | From Rocks to Painting
It took me some time to feel comfortable calling myself an artist. But eventually that point arrived. Then as I began to market myself as such, I found I needed to focus sometimes on “what exactly kind of artist am …
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Painting a Pair of Bobwhite Quail
This is the first time I’ve painted Bobwhite Quail. I’ve had some requests for quail paintings, so this is my toe-in-the-water dip into that audience. How many I’ll do depends upon the market for quail paintings. “A Curious Pair”, Bobwhite …