Museum Hawks

A pair of red-tailed hawks can often be seen flying above the museum district here in Fort Worth.  I decided to do a painting from their vantage point with the Amon Carter Museum down below.  Before beginning a large oil painting, I painted a couple of watercolor sketches to work out the composition.

"Red-tailed Hawks above the Amon Carter #1"   10" x 8"   Watercolor

"Red-tailed Hawks Above the Amon Carter #2"   10" x 8"   Watercolor

Click here to see a time-lapse video and to learn more about this painting on my latest blog post for Fort Worth, Texas Magazine.

"Red-tailed Hawks Above the Amon Carter"   40" x 30"   Oil

The Finished Painting

"Cultural District Hawks Above The Amon Carter"   40" x 30"   Oil

It's been fun working on this painting of the Amon Carter Museum of American Art from bird's eye view.  Next up -- a painting of downtown Fort Worth from street level.

Beginning To Take Flight

"The Cultural District Red Tailed Hawks"  (in progress)   40" x 30"   Oil

One of my teachers at art school used to say, "Always work from general to specific; from simple to complex".  So that is the way I approach every painting, blocking in the big general shapes first and gradually refining and adding detail as needed.  I've almost got the white of this canvas covered and will begin getting more and more specific with each added brushstroke.  I'll show you my progress soon.

The Start

I've just begun an oil painting of the Amon Carter Museum from bird's eye view, referring to the watercolor from my sketchbook as I transfer the composition to canvas.  I decided to place the foreground hawk higher in the sky for a more pleasing composition and to give more of a feeling of soaring high above the museum.  The story behind this painting can be found here.

"Cultural District Red Tailed Hawks"   10" x 8"   Watercolor

Before beginning a large oil painting, I usually take a few minutes to do a small study in oils.  This 5" x 7" sketch serves as a guide and gives me a good idea of the color and general feeling I'm after in the larger work.