I enjoy painting animals of all categories. For me, the most interesting thing about painting animals is their eyes. They are so deep and meaningful and when they look at you, you get this weird sense that they know what they’re looking at, almost as if they know you. Have you ever had a dog watch you get out of the bath or shower. They stare at you like they know you’re naked. Strange. Their eyes are so captivating, the various colors and shapes and hues. I love their widely varied coats; be it feather or fur.
What I find most challenging about painting our furry friends is capturing their various coats. While feathers are by far the hardest, the fine hairs of whiskers can also be tedious. I find that I tend to get very creative when trying to come up with ways to capture a kind of abstract aesthetic that looks like fur or a particular spot pattern. From the wrinkles on an elephant’s trunk to the flowing disheveled messiness of a lion’s mane, to the zigzags of a zebra’s stripes, it’s always a challenge to get it right. I think they’re amazing creatures, all animals, from the mighty massive elephant to the tiny hummingbird.
The scariest bird that I have painted, and I don’t paint many of them because they really freak me out, are owls. There’s something about those big eyes in the front of the face staring out at you from a patch of fury feathers. It reminds me of a Twilight Zone episode I saw as a child. Spooky.