Johanna Lerwick

Original oil painting of a lone grey wolf in the high country and saw something that he focused on intently. In the background clusters of pine trees are barely visible in the blue and white mountain mist. In the foreground are blades of interwoven grass painted with long over lapping brush strokes and standing on the grass is a wet nosed grey wolf whose intense stare draws the viewer to his eyes. The wolf's coat was painted using multiple layers of paint giving him the appearance of having thick dense fur.

With ears perked and a mischievous expression this red fox makes his way from the shadows of tall golden reeds into the light. The white fur of his muzzle and chest contrasts with the reddish coat of his body, all of his fur was painted using layers of paint to create the fox's thick bushy coat. The small crop of green grass in the foreground was painted with a small dagger brush to add fine details. The light and dark contrast throughout this painting adds to the three dimensional aspects of the artwork.

Standing on a rocky hillside this majestic bull elk bugles his warning to all challengers. Light shines on his antlers, face and the fur haloing his neck and shoulders. A fallen tree divides the foreground from the middle ground and seems to point to the elk. The rocks, grass and chunks of wood in the foreground gives added depth to the painting.

I used a Q-tip and brushes to paint the large translucent splashes of water that the bear creates as he vigorously tries to capture the salmon swimming just below the surface of the river. With expertly placed sharp contrasting light and shadow brush strokes to give the bear his wet coat. He shakes off fine water droplets from his back as he continues the hunt.

Each animal is rendered in exquisite detail. The density of the wolf's coat is apparent and way the color variegation of his coat goes from light gray, to a light charcoal and up to the tan on his ears adds to the wolf's life like appearance. To render the Raven I used a very thin brush to paint the fine details of it's beautiful dark feathers.