Part of the Original Painting
Some would say not having an odd number of elk breaks the "rules". There are others who might point out that elk are leaving on both ends of the painting, another potential rule breaker. The right-most elk is doing what she should - looking to see if there is any danger ahead. Placing a young evergreen between that elk and the viewer visually stops it from leaving. In most gatherings there usually is someone who didn't get the message. That's "lefty" in this case. But this one appears more interested in eating than leaving. Two cows have spotted the photographer. The one right of center is the attention getter. A touch of red was added to her side to draw the viewers eye and become the center of interest. What other changes were made on the rest of the painting?
PHOTOGRAPH PAINTING
If I remember correctly, I was using the old Kodak ASA 25 color film on this trip. That handled colors very differently from today's digital camera sensors. For the painting a little sunlight was added to the hill and mountain behind the evergreen line, making for a more harmonious color scheme. The uninteresting sky of the photo was given some character and more trees (visible beyond the left of the photo) were added at the left along with better definition of the regenerating small trees behind the elk. To my mind the foreground really makes the picture: the much lighter color grass of the elks' feeding ground, the foreground low brush and rocks leading the viewer up to the "boss" elk and finally the same touches of red in that foreground brush as used for the elk. Probably anyone painting this scene would have their own ways of interpreting and presenting it. And that's a good thing.
Journey Way Point
"RELUCTANT SPRING"
"Reluctant Spring" depicts a portion of Yellowstone National Park as winter clouds try to hold off spring yet again. This scene is in the northwestern portion of the Park south of Mammoth Hot Springs on route US-89. The mountain on the right side of the painting may be Little Quadrant Mountain. The reference photo for this was taken around 1999. I believe this was on our first visit to Yellowstone.
In 1988 much of YNP suffered a huge fire loss. The small trees in back of the elk in the painting show the extent of the recovery some 11 years after the fire. There were many places in the Park where the fire was so hot that the soil was sterilized and those areas were much slower to start their recovery. At the time of the fire it appeared to be so bad that there were news casts where those reporting said that Yellowstone was destroyed. There have been a number of fires since then, but thankfully nothing as bad as the fire of '88.
Part of the Reference Photo
The elk in this reference photo aren't in particularly interesting poses. The one on the far left has spotted the photographer, but with a narrow head-on view isn't that notable. Probably the bigger one second from the right catches the eye somewhat, but likely only with an "eh" reaction. Time to pull out the "magic artist brush" and go to work.
Reluctant Spring - 16" x 24" - Oil on Canvas
