I Feel like I have worked forever on this painting. I think I am finished, but then, I still need to put it away for a week or so, in case I say, “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I missed that,” whatever that happens to be. You know the expression, “you missed the forest because of the trees.” I get more of those than I can count.
The painting was pretty challenging to say the least. I painted the grizzly bear’s face and body exposure at least 4 times before I thought I was satisfied. I think I am, but I’ll know more next week. The water wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be. I laid a very dark sap green and brown underpainting, and then came up with a kind of smokey green (a little gray mixed in) to make it a bit milky, letting the brown seep through to the top of the water so to speak. Then, I caught the top of the water with a very muted white (tan) to make the water shimmer, and of course the bubbly water surrounding the bear.
Thank you again for taking the time out of your busy schedule to accompany me on my journey to paint this bear.