December 19, 2010
Here’s How Artists Paint Wildlife Portraits With Genuine Spirit
Animal Portraits from Kat Davies
What do we mean by art with soul?
From ancient images of cave drawings
depicting the sheer spirit of survival and energy of a deer hunt, to the famous parable of Noah’s Ark, to present day cartoons like the Lion King, animals in art are everywhere and have been since time immemorial. Animal imagery seems to stir a instinctive link we have with the Earth and the creatures we share it with.
Animal art with soul typically provokes a strong emotional feeling and carries the natural essence of the animal. It is more than an exercise of photo-realism – it goes deeper than a photograph, to encapsulate the very spirit of the wildlife it portrays, it can go beyond any artistic style and even artistic ability. A novice artist can paint animal art with soul as effectively as an experienced professional artist, particularly when noting the following five things common to the best wildlife art.
Living eyes.
Known as the “windows to the soul”. They must contain a spark of life and show a character, particular mood or an identifiable reaction to a particular moment in the life of the animal subject. Check out the cat artwork by renowned artist Kat Davies to see brilliant examples of big cat eyes in her collection of tiger, leopard and lion paintings.
Colour and texture.
Recreate the texture of the coat as accurately as possible to reproduce the image of short, soft, long, coarse, spiky, curly, or straight hairs. Skin may be pink, green, black, blue, smooth or wrinkled, partially transparent where some light shows through, scaly and dry or wet like the rims around the eyes or the nose. Add the little vital spark of life!
An interesting background
The background can evoke nostalgia, atmosphere and drama. For examples of this, study the excellent works of Robert Bateman which show how evocative natural backgrounds might improve your wildlife art and bring your animal subject to life.
The lighting
Dramatic lighting gives life to work. Think of sunlight being filtered through the mane of a lion, or the cold reflected light on the flanks of a polar bear. The cool hints of shadow and the warm tones of sunlight put your animal in the constantly changing cycle of nature from day to night, season to season and give a sense of changing time, weather and climate.
A story
A bold background will help a painting to ‘tell a story’. Quite often the viewer of the piece will dream up an ending for themselves and actively connect with the painting. Look at the wildlife paintings of John Seerey-Lester, particularly those of his historic hunts, to see story-telling in art.
Whether painting ‘cute and furry’ animals such as cubs, puppies and kittens, the savage or romantic wild including the Big Five, animals in the field of sport or hunting, birds in the garden or maybe the cherished family pet portrait, bear in mind that memorable animal art is animal art with soul.
If you would like to see stunning examples of horse art then take a look at http://www.katdavies.com. There is an extensive range of these and other works, and is particularly interesting if you are looking for a painting of your pet.
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