The Amber Lion

Diamond

2006-12-30T10:52:00.000-06:00

I just completed this painting of "Diamond", a wonderful bay Quarter Horse gelding who is one of the school horses at the stable where I have taken riding lessons. He really is a wonderful and patient horse. This was demonstrated during the first time I rode him. I didn't have the cinch on the saddle as tight as it should have been so when I tried to mount, both the saddle and I slid off Diamond's back. Many horses would have spooked or become annoyed at that but Diamond just stood there and snorted softly as though he was thinking, "Ah...students...."

Diamond at CafePress

Autumn Ride

2006-09-03T23:27:00.000-05:00

This year's Halloween design features a witch in a red gown riding a black Friesian stallion through an autumn setting.

Autumn Witch at The Amber Lion

Evening Ride

2006-09-01T12:46:00.000-05:00

Features my painting of a woman dressed in a red and gold gown and riding a black, Friesian stallion with a full moon and falling snow in the background. This design is available on mugs, shirts, pillows, greeting cards and framed prints.

Evening Ride at The Amber Lion

Friesian Stallion

2006-06-03T13:46:00.000-05:00

I absolutely adore this breed of horse. They lend themselves to fantasy so well. The first time I saw one in person I could only stand there in silent amazement as that big, raven black stallion pushed his soft nose against my chest.

Friesian Stallion at CafePress

The Mountain Princess

2006-05-23T21:53:00.000-05:00

My newest painting, featuring a female mountain lion sitting in the sun.
At CafePress: The Mountain Princess

Albino Whitetail Buck and Doe

2006-05-22T15:59:00.000-05:00

After getting a lot of emails requesting these images, I finally put up sections in my cafepress shop offering items featuring the photographs I took of the albino whitetail buck and doe while camping at Minnesota'sFather Hennepin State Park.

Albino Whitetail Buck and Doe

I will be adding other photographs, including my bears, elks, and moose in the very near future.

The Red and the White

2006-04-28T11:19:00.000-05:00

I do apologize for going so long without an update. A new image has been added to my CafePress show that I call, The Red and the White. It's a digital drawing of a white swan and a scarlet red phoenix with gold hightlights flying through a colorful, sunlit sky.

Both birds carry powerful energy in the world of animal spirit guides and together, make a rather impressive pair. The phoenix usually stands for fire, energy and rebirth, while the swan is a symbol of water, dreams and intuition.

This image is available on a number of products, such as mugs, shirts, journals, magnets and mouse pades.

The Red and the White

Winter Mule Deer

2005-12-02T17:42:00.000-06:00

Better late than never I suppose. This is the image I'm using on my holidays cards this year: A mule buck and doe lying together in the snow surrounded by snow covered pine trees.

This image is now available at my Cafe Press shop on cards, mugs, shirts and stickers.

Yule Painting

2005-11-15T15:55:00.000-06:00

I began work on this year's Yule painting this afternoon. Admittedly this is a late start but the canvas is small enough to go directly on the scanner as soon as the painting is completed.

The painting will be of a mule buck and doe curled up together with snow covered pines in the background. For the inside of the greeting cards I want to put this image on I have decided on the text "Tidings of Comfort and Joy".

So, unless my laziness gets the better of me I plan to have this image available at my CafePress shop before the first of December.

Custer Trail Horse Painting

2005-10-14T12:12:00.000-05:00

Here it is, the first in my "Western Trail Guide" series...."Custer Trail Horse". I started this painting quite a while ago and had to put it aside when I started work on "The Mangy Moose". I photographed this pleasant dapple gray, Quarter Horse gelding while we were camping at Custer State Park in South Dakota. This image is now available on an assortment of items in my CafePress shop. Personally I think this image looks very nice on the mugs and the pillow.
Custer Trail Horse section

Halloween designs

2005-09-13T17:46:00.000-05:00

To celebrate the upcoming Halloween season, my shop now has a Halloween section offering products featuring Limited Edition drawings.
The first is my Headless Horseman ink drawing. The popular Sleepy Hollow Spook is seated on a rearing black, Friesian horse.

The second image is "Scary Cat" which is my pencil drawing of a scary black cat, hissing as it stalks towards the viewer.

The third image is my "Spooky Scarecrow", which is another pencil drawing featuring a scarecrow with a scary grin, breaking loose from his post and getting ready to take a walk on Halloween night.

Along with the shirts, these images are available on cups, mugs, light swtich covers, mousepads, totebags, stickers, pillows and postage stamps. And of course prints of the images are available.

The items featuring these images will only be available until November 1st and can be found here: http://www.cafepress.com/theamberlion/833865

This will be my last entry for a few weeks since I will be going on vacation. During my trip I plan on taking plenty of photographs of bison, elk, moose, bears, hopefully wolves and other American wildlife so during the winter I'll be able to add more paintings to my gallery and shop.

Elk Expressions

2005-09-11T20:14:00.000-05:00

One of the most difficult parts of creating a realistic wildlife painting for me is the animal's facial expression. In most of my paintings, the animals look like they are going to turn their heads towards the viewer and make a snide remark. For a little while the elk bull in Autumn Monarch had the sarcastic look but it's amazing how adjusting shadows and highlights can change things. This bull no longer looks like he's going to talk to you. He simply looks proud and is ready to challenge any other bull who tries to steal his harem of cows.

Elk Antlers

2005-09-07T12:59:00.000-05:00

I thought I would take a moment to update on the progress of "Autumn Monarch". Although the background isn't entirely done, enough of it is completed that I am able to start working on the elk bull itself. Yesterday I started on his antlers and was able to complete them this morning. I was also able to paint his eyes and this afternoon will continue work on the nose as well as highlights and shadows to indicated the shape of his face.

I've very pleased with the way the antlers turned out. Of course I had much better photo references now than I did the last time I did a painting of an elk. What a difference having a zoom lens on my camera has made.

The Colors of Autumn

2005-08-24T21:56:00.000-05:00

The painting may not be done yet but I have already named it "Autumn Monarch". Today I got a lot of work done in the upper, left hand corner of the canvas. There are some birch trees in the process of having their leaves turn to a gold yellow before falling to the ground. I also have some brush, again with golden leaves around the bases of the trees. These color should set off the Sienna and Umber shades in the elk bull when I get around to painting him.

Looking for birch trees

2005-08-22T08:36:00.000-05:00

It's actually cold this morning. As usual I opened the windows when I came downstairs to the studio...a few moments later I needed to put on a sweater. It feels like September already.This morning I'm digging through my pile of photographs trying to find pictures of tree...particularly birch trees, in the autumn. I decided I want the new elk painting that I started over the weekend to have an autumn feel to it...but I can't remember how birch leaves are shaped. Oh well. If I can't find the photos that I'm sure I took at Father Hennepin State Park, I can always look them up on the web.

On to the next painting

2005-08-16T20:17:00.000-05:00

Now that the Custer Trail Horse painting is finished, I am able to get started on another elk bull painting. This one, like the first elk painting, was also photographed at Yellowstone National Park. He was out in the open, surrounded by his cows and bugleing to other bulls to stay away from his harem. Thanks to the teleconverter and zoon lens, I was able to get a fairly close shot of him.
Today I prepped the canvas and then sketched the image. Tomorrow I plan on painting the hillside in the background, which should be fairly simply. It's mainly rock, dirt and some tuffs of grass here and there.

Finished

2005-08-15T10:20:00.000-05:00

I'm very pleased to say that the painting "Custer Trail Horse" is finished. A moment ago I signed it and when that dries I'll apply the clear, protective varnish. Perhaps this afternoon I'll take some photographs of it, then get the images on the website as soon as I can get the film developed.
I decided not to add a fence behind the horse. He is supposed to be a trail horse, in a rustic place such as Yellowstone or the Grand Tetons...not on a farm. At such places there are no fences, just hitching posts and this horse is already shown as being tied to a post and is ready to be saddled. He is your gentle guide into the wild and wonderful country behind him.

Painting progress

2005-08-12T20:48:00.000-05:00

The Custer Trail Horse painting is 99.95% finished. The horse itself is all done and the only thing left to finish is the post that it's lead rope is tied to. I'm afraid I still haven't decided whether or not to add a fence behind him.

This morning I got started on some sketches for this years holiday season cards. Deer are my favorite symbol for that time of year so I went through my photographs and found some of a mule deer buck and doe. They are both lying down but alert. I'll paint them in a winter setting with some snow covered pines behind them. The way the sketch turned out, they both look warm and content, keeping each other company. I plan on starting the painting next week and plan to have the cards available right after Thanksgiving.

Hometown Art Gallery

2005-08-10T16:43:00.000-05:00

This morning I received an email from Hometown Art Gallery inviting me to join. Membership is free so I went ahead and created an account although at the moment I don't have any original paintings that I'm willing to part with. I did upload The Mangy Moose to be displayed on my profile but listed it as not for sale. Perhaps at some point I'll upload my Yellowstone Elk Bull or one of my mule deer paintings and see if there are any offers.
The Custer Trail Horse painting is almost finished. The only part of the horse left to paint are his lower hind legs. In fact, I will probably finish this painting tomorrow.

Still too hot

2005-08-08T17:36:00.000-05:00

This evening I was supposed to go to my horseback riding lesson but it's currently 92 degrees. I just don't have the heart to put that heavy western saddle on the horse during weather like this. You can tell by looking at the horse with their lowered heads and their eyes half open that they would rather be grazing in the pasture under the shade of the trees. Not to mention that I don't find the extreme heat comfortable either.On a more upbeat note, I'm very pleased with how my Custer Trail Horse painting is coming. After much trail and error I figured out a way to create a realistic dapple gray. At this point I have completed the horse's head, neck, chest and front legs. The horse's barrel, or mid-section is blocked in and hopefully I'll finish the dappling at some point tomorrow. I still haven't decided whether or not to add a fence behind him. If I do it will be the typical wire fence. That shouldn't detract from the subject of the painting.

Too hot today

2005-08-03T17:57:00.000-05:00

I didn't get as much done on the trail horse painting as I would have liked. The heat and humidity was so bad today that the drying time for the paint was affected. It made mixing the different shades difficult. At the moment I'm working on the horse's neck and shoulder..not at easy task due to the fact that the horse has it's head turned and is facing the viewer, which is an usual angle for equine paintings. Not to mention that the horse is a dapple gray. That coloration is a challenge in itself. I've been trying out different techniques so that I don't wind up with the dreaded "polka dot pony" look.

Happy Birthday to me

2005-08-02T14:40:00.000-05:00

As a present to myself I upgraded my cafepress store to Premium, which means no more rotating designs and since I'm can't bring myself to part with the actual paintings, I can now sell them as prints. Plus the prints go for a lot less than the original painting would.
On another note I'm going to have to keep my camera ready at the window at all times. There are a pair of cardinals that are living in my backyard and I would love to do a painting or two of them for this year's holiday season cards, but those two always seem to know when I have the camera. When I forget about is and leave it in the house, they both tend to fly over and spend a great deal of time on the nearby trees. When I remember to have the camera with me, they make themselves scarce. I'm beginning to think they're doing this on purpose.

A sneak peek

2005-07-30T18:50:00.000-05:00

Here's a sneak peek at the painting I'm working on now. You might recognize the horse from the photo I posted a couple of days ago. This is only a small section of the painting. The full canvas actually shows the horse's entire body...swishing tail, raised hoof and all.

I can't decide whether or not to add a fence behind him. The horse is tied to a post and is about to be saddled to go on a trail ride and I'm not sure if adding a fence will enhance or detract from the over-all painting. I guess I'll just have to wait and see. I can always hold off and add a fence as the final detail.

The Mangy Moose

2005-07-29T17:07:00.000-05:00

I've been looking forward to getting this painting up on the website.
This image is only a small detail. In the actual painting the bull's entire body is shown. Those who are familiar with this species will quickly see that this fellow seems to be a little confused over exactly what season it is....He's shedding his winter coat and the velvet off his antlers at the same time, which doesn't happen in real life. The reason I painted him that way is because this painting was commissioned to hang in the lobby of "The Mangy Moose Resort", so they wanted the moose in this painting to look "mangy" as well.
The entire painting can be viewed on my main website and prints will be available at CafePress after August 2.

Trail Guide Model

2005-07-28T20:08:00.000-05:00

He's a handsome fellow isn't he? This horse is one of the gentle trail horses at Custer State Park and the subject of the first painting in my Trail Guide series. I chose him as the first horse in the series because of his eager pose. Swishing his tail and raising his hoof he looked like he was ready to be saddled and hit the trail.

Trail Guides is dedicated to all of those wonderful, patient western horses that carry tourests through woods and mountains...many of those rides have never been on a horse in their entire lives and these hard working horses need to be depended on to quietly follow the lead horse and carry their often inexperianced riders.

I was working on this horse's painting before the Mangy Moose painting was commissioned and had almost forgotten about it. I was going through my elk photographs and getting ready to start a new painting when I suddenly recalled this one that had to be put away several months ago so I could work on the moose painting. At the moment only the background is completed around the horse's body. Tomorrow I plan on painting in the color and details of the star of the painting...the horse itself.