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Agapostemon texanus, WIP, Airborne! . . image for a book, Bees of California, with Gretchen LeBuhn of the Great Sunflower Project
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Agapostemon texanus, WIP, First Pass With Acrylics . . image for a bee book with Gretchen LeBuhn of the Great Sunflower Project
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Tricolored Heron
Acrylic, 18” x 24”I’ve finally got this one back from the printer’s so here’s a professional scan! Now, to varnish it… and as every artist knows, that’s incredibly nerve-wracking!
I would like to offer giclée prints at some point, although with moving this weekend it’ll have to wait a bit. I am trying to decide whether to do the original 18”x24” for about $100, or make them smaller and more affordable 9”x12” prints for about $30 each. If you would be interested in either one, please let me know so I can gauge interest!
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Poppy Lover . . cover illustration for book, an intro to native bees of California with Gretchen LeBuhn of the Great Sunflower Project, being published by UC Press.
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Painting by Eric Carlson
The University of Montana Philip L. Wright Zoological MuseumCongratulations to
skelelegs for being the first to identify Friday’s Freak of the Week as the skull of a hyena, and extra awesome spectacular bonus points to 
mollisaurus for narrowing that down to the brown hyena, (Hyaena brunnea)! I had the idea recently to go back and tabulate and post the results of every FotW so far, as well as the winners, and then the ultimate all-time identifying champion will get a few posters from the UMZM! We have a poster calendar (it’s from 2008…. but it’s still so cool!) with images of specimens from our museum, as well as the NEW Bats of Montana poster featuring 15 native species, and on the back all of their data and locality information — SOOOO COOL! I will let you all have a little more time to compete for those stellar prizes, so remember that Freak of the Week is posted every Friday between 10:30 a.m. and 12noon Mountain time. We are getting close to the end of featuring all of the artists involved in our group art show. Today I bring you this magnificent painting, The Philip L. Wright Zoological Museum by Eric Carlson, a scientific illustrator and archaeologist graduate student here at the University of Montana. He has used the collection for research in his illustrative work before and is a big fan of our museum — this painting is very large, 4’ x 4’, acrylic on canvas, and is the most accurate portrayal of our crowded collections room that I have ever seen. It is an absolute must-see if you are on campus and going to check out our show! The detail work is fantastic and I just can’t express how much of a fan I am of this work, and so grateful Eric decided to participate in our show with us.
To see more work from that show, the gallery, and everything else:
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Tricolored Heron
Completed - 24 hours, 15 minutes
Acrylic, 18” x 24”I FINALLY finished this! It took a lot of tries to get the feathers just right, but the extra time was well worth it! This is just a quick photo, but once I get another piece or two done I’ll get into the printers to get them scanned properly. I’m hoping to submit this piece to some juried exhibitions, so keep your fingers crossed for me!
This painting is based off a photo that I took at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge in Titusville, FL. I can’t recommend that place enough to all the nature lovers out there! Some of the most amazing bird life in the country, and so easy to get close to them. Plus beautiful scenery. Do yourself a favor and get out there!
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Territorial Joust
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Tricolored Heron
WIP - 22 hours
Acrylic, 18” x 24”After running into some trouble, I had set this painting aside for a couple of months. Today I took another shot at it with a clearer head. I’m still not happy with the forewing, but I’m pretty satisfied with the rest of it. I just got to get those primaries right!
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What I’ve been working on for the last couple of days.
This is a painting of Tillandsia leiboldiana, which recently flowered in July.
I’m trying to do it make it look like an old fashioned botanical drawing, so far I’m pleased with the results. I really like how the inflorescence is turning out, the part with the red for those who don’t know plant terms! This is my first realistic painting from drawing a real life subject.
It’s acrylic and coffee on a 12” by 16” canvas pad. -
Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor)
Acrylic, 18” x 24”
Work-In-Progess: 13 hrs, 45 minNow that the heat is gone, I spent another day at the drawing board with this tricolored heron! Still see a lot to work on, particularly in the wings, water/splash, and background, but I have hit that magic point where I start to like where the painting is headed!
