Wildlife Art: Beyond Realism

Within the wildlife art community there is a small, but growing sub-community of people who are not interested in being limited to a photorealistic style. These artists are my inspiration, combining elements of the everything from expressionism to fauvism in an effort to create something beyond what the eye or the camera lens perceives.

I used to work pushing pixels all day (doing Flash, editing and compressing video, working on websites), so when I returned to painting after 15 years it was to recover my "primitive side". Previously I'd worked as a comic book artist and professional illustrator striving for the required level of stylistic realism, so I've rebelled against that as well since returning to painting.

My style is freeing in all the ways that technology is confining. There is the roaring aroma of the paint and thinner, the tom-tom of my tools lending a heartbeat to the work, the visual stimulus of the piece itself, and the viscosity of the paint and pigment as it rolls through my fingers onto the canvas. By the time I'm done layering color wet into wet, my arms and shoulders will ache.

It is visceral, passionate, primal, and almost antediluvian. I make a huge mess, and I love every minute of it.