Large Animal Paintings

Artist Comments
Artist Emil Morhardt paints a glaucous-winged gull lifting off Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska. He paints the bird splashing the crystalline water in detailed realism. "These big gulls are unafraid of brown bears, dodging between their legs to grab morsels," says Emil. He highlights the piece with a silvery edge reflecting a dazzlingly sunny day.

About the Artist
Emil Morhardt is an acrylic painter from Santa Barbara, California who expresses his passion for birds through realistic acrylic paintings. He paints at home in a studio room that has large windows and a north-facing view of the mountains. He observes the animals from this window, watching roadrunners, foxes, bobcats, deer, and coyote run by. Surrounded by this wildlife, Emil paints bird portraits reminiscent of those by artist John James Audubon. He bases his paintings off hundreds of photographs he takes of birds in the wild and at wildlife recovery centers. Emil captures the freedom and inquisitiveness that birds display in the natural world. Before painting birds, he painted landscapes of San Francisco and the Eastern Sierra. Emil was raised in the high desert of California and learned to paint from his father, who was one of the early California watercolorists...

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In his distinct realism style, artist Guigen Zha displays a black horse drinking water from a tranquil lily pond. Part of ...

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In artist Pamela Hoke's charming portrait, an animated turtle lies on the sunlit seabed. A soothing yet potent expression reference...

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A pair of sandhill cranes stand on opposite sides, their intense eyes seemingly watching each other's backs. Their stoic stance accentuates as the pond they inhabit fades into the grayish rainy mist of California's Central Valley in early winter. Rendered with a loose, watercolor-like technique, the birds' portrayal carries an expressive touch.

About the Artist
Emil Morhardt is an acrylic painter from Santa Barbara, California who expresses his passion for birds through realistic acrylic paintings. He paints at home in a studio room that has large windows and a north-facing view of the mountains. He observes the animals from this window, watching roadrunners, foxes, bobcats, deer, and coyote run by. Surrounded by this wildlife, Emil paints bird portraits reminiscent of those by artist John James Audubon. He bases his paintings off hundreds of photographs he takes of birds in the wild and at wildlife recovery centers. Emil captures the freedom and inquisitiveness that birds display...

Artist Comments
Artist Jeff Fleming captures a cat in its playful nature. Bathed in a soft morning light, this furry tabby frolics in a field of sweet peas, possibly chasing ...

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This painting portrays an American plains bison grazing on the vast grasslands of the American West. The animal is wrapped in an impressionistic swirl of soft...

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Alana's Wallpaper series is a juxtaposition between masculine and feminine. "I wanted to create a unique series that stands apart from traditional nature pai...

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Vibrant butterflies gather around and fly amongst dandelion fluffs floating in the air. Part of artist Natasha Tayles' whimsical series on butterflies. In col...

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Artist Candice Eisenfeld shares the myth of The Dancing Birds and the Flood, "A young shepherd in China interpreted the dances of birds in the sky. He warned the elders in his region about a looming flood, but no-one believed him. Taking matters into his own hands, he made 1000 cranes from paper, working for weeks with little sleep with the wish to keep his townspeople safe. When the floods came, his town was spared heavy destruction while nearby villages were swept away. The young shepherd was later called Yu the Great."

About the Artist
As an American exploring issues of identity, artist Candice Eisenfeld paints through the lens of the first American art...

Artist Comments
Artist Emil Morhardt photographed this goose from a small boat on the Multnomah Channel in Portland, Oregon. "It was serenely paddling along just a few feet a...