Canada Goose in Oregon

Canada Goose at Black Butte Ranch in Central Oregon

14" x 20"

Gallery wrapped Oil on Canvas
Original oil painting

The Oregon High Desert area has seemingly unlimited recreational areas, ranging from the wild BLM lands to well-kept resorts where we have endless opportunities to observe nature and all of her creatures. One lazy summer day, while hanging out next to the lake at Black Butte Ranch with some friends, I was entranced by the sunlight reflecting off of the peaks of the waves in the water. I decided then and there that I wanted to do a water study so I could figure out how to paint the beauty that I was witnessing. My friend was inspired to capture this image of a goose who was leisurely enjoying the water as much as the rest of us. The bird gave a beautiful focal point in this first (but not last) water study. Of course I had to reimagine the colors to be brighter and more vivid than the original image, so I used a bright red and blue color pallet for the water. I painted the goose in an impressionist style using short brush strokes and  blocks of colors.

I painted this image using oil paints on a gallery wrapped canvas. The 2" edges are all painted so that the painted image extends beyond the front surface.  The layers upon layers of paint adds to the visual depth and rich hues that can't be achieved with watercolor, acrylic, or even photos that will fade over time.