Medium: Watercolor, Image Size: 14.5″h x 18″w, 1996.

I like to portray the gentle moments in the lives of wild animals. This wolf, which is examining its paw, is an example of that contented and peaceful quality I like to paint. This watercolor painting took many washes of watercolor to build up values from light to dark. I used larger brushes for the lighter under layer washes, and as I built up the details and the values, I used smaller and smaller brushes. The darker areas had the most washes and paint applied while the white and light areas had little to no washes applied. To create the illusion of fur I had to use tiny brushes size 000, size 00, and size 0.

This snow scene was from Black Mountain, Siskiyou County, California.

Original is sold.

Reproductions available on Etsy.