Watercolor of Mount Herman, CO – fine art notecard by artist Jamie Wilke. Others: Red Fox, Colorado Steam Train, Colorado Mountain Goat, Palmer Lake Autumn Aspens, Black Bear, Columbine Flower
Shop Local and Send Tri-Lakes Area Art Cards Featuring Mount Herman, Palmer Lake Star, Columbine, Autumn Aspens & More!
Original Art and Fine Art Prints of Mountain Goat for Sale
Limited Edition Fine Art Prints: You can order prints of this mountain goat starting at $45. Sizes start at 8×8″ and up. Watercolor paper or 1.5″ canvas gallery wrap. Signed and numbered.
Original Art: Professional framed with UV- protective glassand made from archive quality materials. Signed with Certificate of Authenticity.
Thank you for checking out this process. Stay tuned for number 3 in this series of “Colorado Wildlife” pastel art!
My Inspiration for this 8×8″ Soft Pastel Painting Titled: “Majestic Red Fox”
The red fox was an easy choice for me to paint as the first subject in my “Colorado Wildlife” series of art. I’ve always appreciated the beauty of the red fox, and this majestic animal reminds me of when my husband and I first moved to Palmer Lake – a small foothills town between Denver and Colorado Springs.
Read and see photos below of how this red fox painting came to life. I show you my technique, artist tools and beginning, middle and ending stages of the fox painting.
8×8″ Charcoal and pastel drawing of a red fox by Colorado artist Jamie Wilke. Original artwork and a limited number of fine art prints are for sale online at: www.JamieWilke.com. This is Jamie’s first piece in her new series of pastel paintings: “Colorado Wildlife”.
“I felt lucky to be able to watch these beautiful red foxes hunt mice and rabbits in our yard, and I learned that they marked their territory to keep the coyotes away.”
After we bought our house in Palmer Lake, in the early mornings I would sometimes see three foxes in my yard at one time. They were marking their territory on my newly planted flowers. At first I wanted to chase them away, but then my anger turned into wonder as I got to watch these incredible animals prance around my yard.
The foxes would hunt for the mice that made their home in the large temporary wood pile created from our recently dismantled deck. On a few lucky (or unlucky) occasions I witnessed a rabbit being chased by a fox at high speeds across the driveway. We would also see kit foxes play in the culverts under our street.
“The red fox’s awe-inspiring colors changed the plan for my ‘Colorado Wildlife’ animal series from charcoal drawings to soft pastel paintings.”
My original plan was to draw a series of “Colorado Wildlife” animals in black and white charcoal (see my black and white black bear charcoal drawing). However, since the red fox was my first subject, I just had to draw it in color. Its fluffy, vibrant orange fur inspired me to draw the red fox in soft pastels and learn as I go. If I liked the process of drawing with pastels (some artists call it painting) I would continue this “Colorado Wildlife” animals series in pastels as well.
This is my reference photo for the red fox drawing.Here is the printout of red fox photo in black and white. I use this to get dark and light values correct. I also measure out gridlines to help me draw the fox in correct proportions.
“This red fox motivated me to teach myself how to paint with soft pastels.”
This time I planned to use soft pastels for all the fur for this red fox. I would use black and white charcoal pencils for the white and black details of the face, including its shiny black nose and black whiskers.
Here you can see my black and white charcoal drawing toolkit. I just added a few colors of soft pastels (the square chalk-looking pieces) to represent the red fox’s fur.Here is the first third of my pastel painting. This was my first attempt at painting/drawing with soft pastels. I learned by doing (and re-doing) and hoped for the best!
One Last Step – Make the Fox Brighter and More Colorful!
The fox on the left, below, looks pretty good. I decided to pump it up with more color and more contrast, to really capture that dramatic look of the red fox. Soft pastels allow you to add lighter colors on top of dark colors, so I was able to accomplish this last step pretty easily. I learned that creating many layers is ok, and even helpful, in making a bright pastel painting.
My “Majestic Red Fox” pastel drawing is almost done – but not quite!Finishing touches – accentuating the colors to make the red fox look truly “majestic”.
“Majestic Red Fox” – Original Artwork and Fine Art Prints for Sale by Colorado Artist
If you enjoy watching the red fox as much as I do, consider buying the original pastel painting or even a fine art print so you can look at its inspiring beauty every day!
Click here to see if the original artwork, “Majestic Red Fox”, is still for sale. You can buy the original artwork by itself, or you can buy customized framing for this original artwork, which I offer at a competitive price.
A limited number of fine art giclee prints in various sizes are also for sale in watercolor paper or canvas prints. My fine art prints are archive quality, signed and numbered. All artwork comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.
Stay Tuned for My Second Animal in this Soft Pastel Painting/Drawing Series: “Colorado Wildlife”
