"African Contours"

Grevy's Zebra

I am particularly fond of Grevy's zebras. Their large fluffy ears and mule like heads lends them to comical expressions. Their stripes are more numerous and are closer together which makes for interesting patterns and angles For me as a wildlife artist, the complexity and beauty of their markings is an irresitable invitation to paint them.

"Romeo"

Grevy's Zebra

Both "Romeo" and "African Contours" are paintings of Grevy's Zebras. I especially enjoy painting zebras because of my love for the equine family. Also I am particularly fascinated by the way the stripes follow the form of the animal and the contrasting values of light and dark.

It is generally believed that the purpose of a zebra's stripes is camouflage to confuse the predator. A herd of zebra moving in a frenzy is a sea of stripes. It is far more difficult of separate an individual for attack.

"Skyscrapers"

Giraffe Group

Giraffes are one of my favorite subjects to paint. I always enjoy coat patterns and color variations of different animals, but giraffes also offer the interesting physical characteristics of a seemingly delicate structure, long neck, and large contoured ears.

Giraffes are both elegant and a little goofy at the same time. My painting “Sunstruck” was my portrayal of the elegance while “Skyscrapers” is a look at the more humorous side of giraffes.

"Sunstruck"

Giraffe

The model for "Sunstruck" was a bull giraffe named DJ, from the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines, Iowa. He was always in motion, swiveling his ears and adjusting his mouth. His facial expressions conveyed such great character. What pulled me into doing this painting however, was all the angles and the way the light bounced off them. He seemed to almost glow.

"The Matriarch"

African Elephant

The original of this piece is quite large. I wanted to give the elephant a strong presence, so I focused in on a small portion of the whole animal. I feel greater impact was added by leaving much of the animal "outside" the Image.

Elephant skin varies greatly in texture so when doing this piece I treated the skin like a landscape. This was my first oil pastel painting. I very much enjoy working in this new medium and I foresee great possibilities.

"The Old Bachelor"

Giraffe

The male giraffe that is the subject of this painting was quite spectacular. He was considerably larger than any of the others in the enclosure. I was particularly drawn to the character of his face. I loved all the wrinkles and the graying of his balding head and I enjoyed working with the rhythms of the shapes and patterns in his coat. The negative space was also important to this work. I actually framed out my Image by how much negative space I wanted, not how much giraffe.

I've not done a giraffe painting in a very long time. I had such fun doing it that I wondered why I've not done one sooner. This old bachelor was such a great animal that I'm sure he will be the subject of many more paintings to come.