Contact Information:

  (309) 799-7192  (309) 799-7192

Email: >LangleyArt@mchsi.com

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I rely to a great extent on digital photographs and videos of wildlife, vegetation, rock forms and landscapes that I take in natural areas as reference material for my paintings. For some
paintings, I may use several photos to build a composition. But sometimes I get lucky with a shot of an animal in its environment which only requires one artistic decision: How to crop the
image. By that I mean deciding on how to frame the scene so that the composition is interesting and best conveys the mood I want to create for the viewer. My primary concern is the focal point, how large do I want the animal (should it be a major, dominating element of the scene, or small and immersed in its habitat) and where should it be placed (square in the center, confronting the viewer, or to the side and toward a corner, which results in a more dynamic composition). On a visit to Vancouver Island last year, I got lucky on a walk along the Pacific coast with great shots of a bald eagle perched on rocks in a pounding surf. Because this was to be a (for me) large oil painting, 24 x 36", and the eagle a small but important part of the composition, I dispensed with a preliminary detailed sketch on paper. Instead, using a wash of Payne's Gray mixed with gesso, I sketched out the eagle and major rock forms on the canvass. It was at this point that I decided to add three shorebirds, black oystercatchers at the lower right. Their bright red bills add interest, "eye candy," to the painting. Then I began painting, working from the top, or back of the scene, to the front. First, ocean wave surge, then rocks, eagle, water spilling over the rocks in rivulets, and finally water pooling behind the rocks in the foreground. In the last stage of the painting, as with all my paintings, detailed tweaks were made to all elements of the composition. I am especially pleased with the result as I feel I came close to conveying the emotional impact of the scene as I lived it. As a bonus, "Sea Eagle" was accepted for the 2010 Society of Animal Artists' "Art and the Animal" exhibition, which celebrated the 50th anniversary of SAA. It was the second step in having paintings accepted in the 2009, 2010, and this year's 2011 shows, which has qualified me as a Signature Member of SAA, the most satisfying accomplishment of my artistic career.  The finished painting can be viewed on the Landscapes page.