Acrylic Animal Paintings

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Artist Diana Elena Chelaru exhibits an expressionist portrait of a lady with her dog. She caresses the pup as it sleeps by her side. Geometric shapes adorn he...

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Long-Billed Curlews, some of the largest of the shorebirds, often hang out together, milling around at the edge of the surf, then wading in to feed. I spotted...

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Using her signature folk art-style, artist Jessica JH Roller captures an endearing portrait of a wolf and two hedgehogs in a verdant abstract landscape. Jessi...

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Artist Emil Morhardt captures a group of acorn woodpeckers diving together from a tree. “They really do this,” says Emil. He spends hours with his lens trained on the birds as they argue loudly among themselves until finally taking a jump. The woodpeckers are painted on a thick layer of absorbent ground, giving them a slightly three-dimensional appearance against the gray-stained canvas.

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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"There is that point when kids are looking grown but at the same time still look like the young kids that they are," muses artist Heather Foster. "This guy wa...

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"Ravens look highly intelligent," says artist Emil Morhardt. "This one was slowly and purposefully striding back and forth about ...

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"Common Ravens are a friendly lot, hanging around in large groups at an abundant food source or pairing off to wander as a couple," ...

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A playful and harmonious scene of a woman riding on the tail of a blue whale, created in artist Jessica JH Roller's signature folk-art style. Jessica says the...

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I saw this pair zooming around my house, cawing wildly on some crow mission," says artist Emil Morhardt. "One would think that Common Crows are black, but in ...

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"I'm a tough guy, don't mess with me," narrates artist Heather Foster on how she imagines the horse's thoughts. She paints the robust stallion in her alluring...

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Artist Heather Foster paints an impressionist portrait of a brown horse. She takes inspiration from a colt she witnessed at Bishop's Lodge, a small complex on the outskirts of Santa Fe...

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"Who knew that Snowy Egrets at the beach hunted beetles?" says artist Emil Morhardt. "This one was stealthily sneaking up on some...

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A bold impressionistic painting of a Mandarin duck gliding across a pond with its swirling reflections rippling in the water by artist John Jaster...

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Artist Emil Morhardt depicts an Elegant Tern and a Forster’s Tern hanging together in the winter shallows of the Santa Barbara beach in California. Their evening reflections ripple above the water highlighted in gold, silver, and copper leaf. "While the Elegant Terns show up in huge flocks, the much smaller Forester’s tern is uncommon in Santa Barbara, and so a treat to see."

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...

Artist Comments
Artist Jessica JH Roller shows a young girl hugging a black cat. Both with striking green eyes, the duo is set against a bright purple background. "Pepper is ...

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Artist Heather Foster encountered this inquisitive subject while painting en plein air. "This nosy California girl wanted to be front and center to see what t...

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A close-up view of two ducks looking astutely at the viewer. "There's something highly engaging, and perhaps a little unsettling, about the way these young fe...

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"These two long-billed curlews are gazing at us with an unmistakable curiosity," says artist Emil Morhardt. "Like many shorebirds, when I sat on the beach qui...

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"The two nearer whimbrels look to me," shares artist Emil Morhardt. "They look as though they might be discussing whether or not to let junior fly to Florida ...