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All of the paintings presented in these online galleries are available for sale. If you click on the thumbnail images shown in the index on the left, a new window will open to display a larger image of that painting, along with the title, size and medium, and a reference to a Gallery to contact for up-to-date information about the price and availability of that painting. If no commercial gallery is cited, then you may contact me directly. If you would like a return phone call, leave your number and I will get back to you as soon as I can. If you are within driving distance of my studio, I would welcome you to stop by and see the original. Most of these paintings already have been framed, but some of the newest pieces that have not been exhibited yet are unframed. Any painting that is showing in a commercial gallery is sold as framed. As you can see, I prefer to show my work in classy, high-end custom frames. In fact, I think that cheap, bargain frames just cheapen the artwork; I believe they are a false economy. For more information about my custom frame options, and the superb craftsmen who make my frames, see Frames. Finally, I hope you will return to browse these online galleries regularly. I will update them as often as I can. Unless otherwise noted, each of these landscapes has been painted "en plein air,” which is my absolute favorite environment for painting. There is simply nothing like the experience of standing before the grandeur of Nature with an easel and brushes, and trying to capture my impressions of the light and atmosphere in paint. Because each of these paintings represents a day in the field— or maybe two or three return sessions to the same site, as I struggle to “get it right” — each is very special to me, because it brings back to me vivid memories of that moment in time that I experienced. Although I am partial to the wonderful smell and rich tactile textures of oil paints, I do also paint in watercolor. Indeed, during the many years that I spent illustrating my bird guides, I worked exclusively in watercolor and gouache. Watercolors are incredibly portable and compact—perfect for travel—and quick to work with. I enjoy taking a break from oils now and then to paint landscapes in watercolor. Because they are transparent, the lightest values in a watercolor painting represent the bright paper shining through a thin wash of pigment. The lightest passages of a watercolor are those areas with the least amount of paint, which is the exact opposite of oils, in which the light colors are typically the thickest areas of impasto. When painting in watercolor, values are built up gradually from light to dark, whereas in oils, the darkest areas are often stated in the first stages of a painting. Finally, because each successive brush stroke in a watercolor may disturb an adjacent passage, which might still be damp, the pacing of the work is crucial. Apply another wash too soon, and the strokes will blend. Because these two mediums require such different approaches, I find it refreshing and very instructive to switch back and forth between them. The watercolor landscapes available for sale in this gallery are small, plein air sketches. For the most part, they are sold already framed, although a few may be matted only. This gallery of “bird” paintings includes my largest and most “important” works. It is in these studio creations that I can bring together my extensive knowledge and life-long love of birds with my passion for landscape painting—a synthesis, if you will, of the disparate threads that run through my work. Most of these paintings are the product of long torturous struggles in the studio, which is a very different process indeed than the quick, explosive rendering of a plein air landscape. However, in many ways, these oils do represent my “cutting edge” paintings, and they are, for the most part, the canvases that I enter into prestigious juried museum shows. Click On the Easel in the menu on the left to read more my studio struggles. Because many of these paintings have been hung in shows, they are already framed in substantial, expensive custom frames—which are included in the price of the painting. Keep in mind that a particular piece may be currently on exhibit, or on tour with a show. For each of the field guides that I have illustrated, I have painted many pages of bird illustrations (called plates). These paintings are all executed in watercolor and gouache on heavyweight watercolor paper. Although I am withholding some original paintings from my Eastern Birds for potential use in a half-completed companion guide to birds of the West, many of the original paintings from the book are available for sale. If you do not see your favorite group of birds in the galleries posted here, feel free to inquire about other plates that might be available. Each of these illustrations represents weeks of labor—from the first days of gathering photographs and other reference material, through the following days or weeks of sketching each bird, designing a composite layout, and doing the final drawing—all before any paint is applied. (For more information about the process involved in creating these illustrations see Field Guides). Working on these book plates is quite different from my work in the studio painting birds in oils—and is exactly the opposite from the process of painting a plein air landscape. In a field guide plate, every detail of the image is planned in advance. I want to be confronted with no surprises when rendering the detailed plumage of a bird on a page of many illustrations. It is an exacting process that allows for no improvisation, and little expression of my personality—and yet the paintings have a beauty and exactitude that is unique and special. I am very proud of my field guide plates. They represent some of my highest achievements, and I consider them pieces of artwork, suitable for framing and hanging on the living room wall. I hope you will see them that way, too. Feel free to contact
me for additional information about these or any other book illustrations
I might have available for sale.
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