More progress on OWL

More Progress on OWL

The Previous Post ( before )

Hot Off the Press ( after )

I was able to spend some more 'quality-time' with the OWL painting today. I think I have managed to wrestle the thing into a higher state of being...as in, it really is taking on a life of its own now. It is usually a struggle to take a painting to this level of believ-ability.

Takes a lot of patience and coaxing, even cajoling to get there. You will see what I man when I say there have been advances. Many more selective glazes.

Close-up of face ( ain't he adorable? )

Can you spot the differences between the 'before and after' ?

Owl are you?

The Owl Painting Re-visited

After dropping the mural off in Nipawin, I decided to take a little 'painting holiday', that is, to spend some time working on one of my own. In this case, the Owl popped up on the radar.

Twice Lucky, Thrice Blessed

Twice Lucky, Thrice Blessed...





Just as Bailey and I set out on our ritual morning walk, I spotted an owl roosting in nearby Wellington Park here at Manitou Beach, SK. So naturally I sprinted back nome to grab my camera, hoping that the owl would still be there when I got back. S(he) was. But as soon as I took my 1st photos, it took off, revealing powerful wings that effortlessly carried both it and its meal, a waxwing-sized bird. I managed to fire off a couple of more shots once it had landed on a slightly higher bough. It glared at me for bothering it.



This is the 3rd owl I have seen up close enough to phototgraph in the past year. I was twice lucky to get pictures of this one, and thrice blessed to see three different owls on separate occasions.

First Painting of 2007

The Owl has long been regarded as a good luck omen and a symbol of wisdom.

Think the 'Owl-ish Professor'.

So I thought it would be highly appropriate if I was to paint a picture of this little fellow that dropped in for a three-day visit last spring. He's a Northern Saw Whet, measuring only about seven inches from head to foot. He is a tenacious little guy, though. He stood his ground on his perch outside our big picture window and fought off all comers, including some pesky blue-jays and even a magpie.

He posesd very compliantly for me to take quite a few wonderful close-up photos. I knew right then and there that he would make a great subject for a portrait.

Is it not also said that one's activities on and about the cusp of the New Year sort of casts the mold for the coming twelve months? With this in mind, I was only too happy to weave this painting into my schedule. I'm just so grateful that I have enough flexibility in my day to do something like this that is strictly creative. Very good for the soul.

This is a work in progress. I will pick away at finishing it over the next little while.