The Fox in Snow Series

I am currently working to complete the 18 x 30 oil painting below of a fox walking throught the snow. This painting began now that I think about it over 4 years ago. I painted this fox three times before, from a 2 1/2 x 3 1/2" oil to a couple of 4 x 6 oils to the 18 x 30.

Here is the first, a ACEO, the size of a baseball card, though this is an original oil on canvas done in 2006.

Then last year came back to it, this time as a 4 x 6 oil. A bit easier to see when painting. I added some snow covered hemlocks to create a background.

Here is another version the same size as above. We have been having a bit more snow than usual this winter, so I simplified the design, just the fox and the snow.

Here is the start of the latest painting. I worked it on a red background. Patiently working on drawing the fox before painting the snow.

A this point, I have decided that I have worked enough on the fox to have some fun, so I got out the 2 inch brush and squeezed a pile of white paint on the palette and went at it. I had planned to paint the row of hemlocks in the background again, but I wanted to show the fox as a survivor, making it through the winter. I decided to paint the blue of the sky instead of trees. At that time I had already painted a line of green where the base of the trees would have been. I decided to keep that as a distant tree line, with our fox crossing an open field or frozen lake.

A this point my wife came into the studio. She is a portrait artist M. Theresa Brown and we often critique each others work. Well maybe we make suggestions to each other. She suggested that I paint him walking across grass next to stone wall. A great idea, so it looks like this painting won't be the last in the series of Fox walking in Snow. Check back the finished painting should be up in a couple of days.