Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
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 coyotes run by. Surrounded by this wildlife, Morhardt 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. Morhardt 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. Morhardt was raised in the high desert of California and learned to paint from his father, who was one of the early California watercolorists. Morhardt has a BA in Zoology from Pomona College and a Ph.D. in Environmental Physiology and Ecology from Rice University. He also was a Professor of Environmental Biology at Claremont McKenna, Scripps and Pitzer Colleges.
Artist Comments
"Common Ravens are a friendly lot, hanging around in large groups at an abundant food source or pairing off to wander as a couple," ...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
A pair of little woodpeckers perch on opposite sides of a branch, busy probing the small holes they've made for fresh tree sap. The intricate features of their plumage and the textured bark create a striking contrast against the stark white background. Rendered in vibrant colors and fine detail, artist Emil Morhardt brings this charming scene to life.
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...
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
Artist Emil Morhardt displays an impressionist portrait of three brown pelicans. The birds sun themselves in the Sea of Cortez against a subtle greenish-blue late afternoon sky. "I hadn't thought about pelicans having a 3D vision like hawks until I was looking over my photos and saw one of the birds staring straight at me," shares Emil. He references his photographs from a National Geographic Zodiac that the pelicans seemed curious about, allowing very close viewing.
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...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
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...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
When I walk along Santa Barbara beaches in winter, Marbled Godwits are the most common bird, often seen in herds, as in thi...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
"Ravens look highly intelligent," says artist Emil Morhardt. "This one was slowly and purposefully striding back and forth about ...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
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...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
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...
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
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...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
Artist Emil Morhardt depicts a family of aquatic birds he saw in a northern Iceland lake. "The mother bird saw me and swam across to proudly show off her chick," says Emil. With near-photographic detail, the subjects stand out vividly against a clean white background.
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...
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
Artist Emil Morhardt paints a swooping hawk he observed circling the sky and then landing on a tall nearby tree. The bird inspects the many gopher holes nearby. Emil captures it just as it launches a successful attack—painting the plumage with fine detailed brushwork and intense colors against a pure white background. The piece embodies the essence of this powerful raptor.
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...
21st Century and Contemporary Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
"Great horned owls spend a lot of time sitting and intently watching, rotating their heads to look at whatever interests them, including me," shares artist Emil Morhardt...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
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...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
"These raucous birds arrive at my Santa Barbara feeder in flocks," shares artist Emil Morhardt. "They shoo away sparrows and hous...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
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 ...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
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...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
"The Galapágos hawk (Buteo galapagoensis) is the same genus and size as the North American Red-tailed Hawk, but a little darker," explains artist Emil Morhard...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
Artist Emil Morhardt captures a sanderling scurrying along the edge of incoming surf. "In a second, he'll turn around and follow ...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
Emil Morhardt photographed this tern from the National Geographic Orion cruise ship off Tahiti in May 2019. These birds, he says, are large, beautiful, extrem...
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
"Who knew that Snowy Egrets at the beach hunted beetles?" says artist Emil Morhardt. "This one was stealthily sneaking up on some...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
"These two glowing marbled godwits are painted at the edge of the surf on a soft late evening on a Santa Barbara beach," sh...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
Willets are usually at the edge of the surf, poking into the wet sand as they follow each wave in and out. This one, when I came on him, was standing above th...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
"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...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
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...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Impressionist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
A realistic rendering by artist Emil Morhardt of a calm but vigilant crow on a powerline in the early morning sun. The bird is pa...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
A group of large sea lions emerges above calm sea waters just south of Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska. “The great thing about marine mammals swimming aro...
21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Impressionist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
"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 ...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
Sometimes these handsome ducks, who feed at the Santa Barbara Bird Refuge by plowing through the water with their bills open, take a break from shoveling and ...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Contemporary Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Charcoal, Varnish, Acrylic, Watercolor
19th Century Impressionist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Oil
1980s Abstract Expressionist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Paper, Acrylic
19th Century Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Oil
2010s American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Oil, Panel
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic, Wood Panel
2010s American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
Early 20th Century American Impressionist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1960s American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Early 2000s Surrealist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Artist Comments
Artist Emil Morhardt paints a snowy egret, two great egrets, and a great blue heron taking in the view. Painted against a clean white background, the birds glow...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
A curious buck gazes with gentle eyes. Artist Emil Morhardt captures with clarity a magnificent deer, its proud antlers shine und...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
I photographed this Brown Pelican in full breeding plumage in December in the Galapagos Islands. I painted him on a white background with the low angle sun emphasizing the usually subtle colors in his plumage. I love watching these large seemingly ungainly birds manage to land on a dime.
About the Artist
Emil Morhardt...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
This painting is part of Emil Morhardt's ongoing series of seabirds. Three males standing around at the Santa Barbara Bird Refuge waiting for spring, reflecti...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
Crows on the beach remind me of beach bums more than of shorebirds; they fly in for the day and mostly don't go any nearer to the water than they have to to fin...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
Athena lives at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and comes out in the yard to pose every afternoon. I visit her often, and particularly like this d...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
Sanderlings race the surf in and out, stopping briefly to probe the wet sand for food before frantically running off again. The front bird is taking a brief feeding break, with wet sand still on his bill and feet. His friend is coming along quickly out of the mist...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
Two whimbrels and two willets hanging out together on a Santa Barbara beach on a warm winter afternoon. To me, this paintin...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
I painted this striking confluence of whimbrels and sanderlings on Hendry's Beach in Santa Barbara just as I photographed it; the whimbrels standing around an...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
Kenati is an American kestrel who lives at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and who comes out with a handler every ...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
Ivan lives at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and comes out with a handler every afternoon to be admired and photographed. He is obviously alert t...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
Artist Comments
Max lives at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and comes out with a handler every afternoon to be admired and photographed. He's had problems recently...
21st Century and Contemporary American Realist Emil Morhardt Animal Paintings
Acrylic
