Otis...

Just completed this - the bear 480 Otis, painted in watercolour on paper.  This was a private commission.  I have painted Otis many, many times, and thought it might get boring but this one kept my interest the whole way through.  The reference photo just had water around him but I was asked to make it that he was sitting in his 'office' - the area at the back of Brooks Falls where Otis likes to sit quietly and gorge himself on salmon.  I have also painted 'the office' so many times that I don't need a reference photo any more!  Painting all that fur was quite a challenge - so many curls and ruffles!  It took a great deal of concentration not to lose my way with it.

This is part of a double commission, the other being of bear 435 Holly.  Good job I like bears...

Interlude...

I have a ton of work to complete before Christmas (hopefully) but had to take a few days away from it to paint this little chap.  Sometimes it pays to take a step back from the commissioned work to do something for yourself in order to keep your work fresh - I mean, I love Otis the bear, but to paint him three times in a row gets just a little tedious!

So this is a young bear at Katmai who as yet has no number and is currently referred to by the unfortunately nickname of Bucky - long and involved story as to why, which I won't go into here.  A few weeks ago he was lying on a rock just watching the world go by and we got some great close-ups on the live web cams.  I collected a few images as I really wanted to make a painting from them, it was such a sweet moment.  Since then, the urge to get this done has been strong so I went with it and am very pleased with the result.  Watercolour on paper.

He will be in my Etsy shop shortly - and for me, it's back to Otis once again!