Black Bear | The Forager

Description

Process for painting this black bear

To see the making of The Forager, click here to go to my post about it. My paintings are all hand drawn with the paints that I make. I don’t use pencil or projections for the outlines. I use only the paints I make from pigments sourced in my area, except on very rare occasions. When that happens, it’s clearly stated in the provenance. This black bear painting uses only local pigments.

Pigment sources

Stones

The green, yellow, brown, russet, and red came from various colors of sandstones that grow wild here on our land. Some of the gray came from shale, and some of the black from bitumen. White came from ancient tumbled limestone that I find in the creeks here.

Soot

The bulk of the black in the bear’s body is from a paint made from soot. Basically, it is carbon black, and makes an excellent paint.

Plants

The blue in the berries and the very light blue in the background came from the petals of the Asiatic dayflower. It is a light-stable pigment. You can visit my color journal to learn more about this blue.

Reference Image Credits

I used a magnificent photo by Rick Thigpen, with permission.

View the Artwork in Person

While this original has already been spoken for, you can see it in person at the Springfield Art Museum in the Watercolor USA exhibition from June through August. For location and date details, click here to go to the exhibit information.

Prints

All of my prints are processed in house with a professional giclée art printer using archival inks. The paper is archival watercolor paper for high quality prints. 

Notecards

Notecards are 4 x 5.5″, blank inside, and printed on the same professional printer as my prints. Each are packaged in a clear bag with an envelope and the insert that tells the story of how I began my watercolor journey with Ozark pigments. All of my artwork is available on notecards, and you can mix and match to order a set of 5 for a discount. Sets are not individually packaged, but are attractively presented together in a box. Click here to find out more about notecard sets. (Will link when listing is live. in the meantime, email me at madison@wildozark.com to order a set. I’ll invoice you.)

Tea Towels

Get your favorite artwork on a tea towel. These are large bar mop type towels. High quality, 100% organic and unbleached cotton from India.

A combination discount is available for the 5 x 7″ print, notecard, and tea towel together. Makes a great gift for the wildlife-lover in your life!

NFT Art

This artwork is NOT available as an NFT..

 

More Info

All of my paintings begin with foraging for rocks, bones, clay, or other pigment sources. If you’d like to read a little more about my life of foraging for rocks, read this post: She Delivers in Spades. If you’d like to see how the paints are actually made, read this post: Making Smooth Paint from Rock Dust.

Follow the blog if you’d like to get the latest posts in your email inbox. And sign up for my newsletter if you’d like to enter the monthly drawing for a free 5 x 7″ print, hear about whatever I’ve been up to, and plan to see exhibits and shows.

Contact Me:

email: madison@wildozark.com
IG: @wildozark
FB: @wildozark
Twitter: @wildozark