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Friday, September 26, 2014

Getting Close - Step 1 & 2


This past August I spent 10 days in Toronto with my daughter while she participated in the Miss Canada Globe Pageant.  Our trip took place during the 2nd anniversary of my last husband’s passing, and on this particular day I knew I was going to be alone.  I wasn’t sure how I was going to handle it, so I decided I needed to do something fun.  I ended up spending 6 hours at the Toronto Zoo.  It was a fantastic day and I was thrilled to be able to spend time watching and studying the two adult polar bears.

I love polar bears, there is something so majestic about them, besides their size!  I was thrilled when one of the bears decided to dive to the bottom of the pool, swim over to the underwater viewing windows and literally come up to the window I was standing at.  I don’t actually know if the bear could see me, but I swear we made eye contact quite a few times.  After he came to the window he would turn around and push himself off of the window and swim on his back.  He did this over and over, it truly made my day.

When I got back to the hotel I was inspired to paint him in acrylic, just a small 8” x 10” study that only took a few hours, but after seeing how it turned out I decided I needed to also paint it in oil.  Instead of a small study, this painting is being painted on a 36” x 48” canvas, the largest canvas I have used so far.  I’m so excited to see how it is going to turn out and I am now working on the monochromatic.  I hope you will follow me on this painting journey….”Getting Close”.

Original Oil – in progress
36” x 48”

Getting Close

* After erasing the bear a few times I was satisfied with placement and started the monochromatic.  Although, I liked the study, I have decided to change the bear a little bit.


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