Hard Times Day 11 30 Day Challenge

                                                                   Hard Times
                                                                      8"x10"
                                                                         Oil
Not long ago I had seen a documentary on buffaloes/bison of Yellowstone National Park and how hard it is for all the animals and especially them to survive the rigors of the hard winters of the area.  Of course they eat the grasses which when dried out lose much of their nutritional values.  So eventually the herd go into the hot springs areas and feeds on the green grass which contains high quantities of arsenic.
I have had this one started for quite some time and decided to give it  finish.  Funny how you continue to grow and adjust so I intensified the darks and added the foreground trees.  Pretty much an easy finish, and not sure why it took me so long.  For me the hardest part of this picture was the snow and the background trees (did I mention backgrounds drive me crazy).  I did use the palette knife here for the foreground trees and some of the snow accents.    Had a bobo and had to scrape back a part that I got a little carried away with.  But the forgiveness of the oil I think helped me out of a tough spot at the end of the picture.
Thanks much for taking a look and have a great day.

Comments

Meredith Adler said…
How wonderful that you found a new confidence to finish one that was waiting. The piece looks great to me, color scheme, values, texture...all of it!
January 12, 2016 at 6:16 AM
Mellowood Gallery said…
Sometimes it takes time away for the right finish to happen. I like the snow on his face- it makes me imagine him shoving his face in the snow searching for food. Well done!
January 12, 2016 at 10:49 AM
Jane said…
LOL I 'm with you on the backgrounds, drive me crazy too :-)) Doesn't show though the difficulty you were having here, everything is beautiful and natural, the snow is perfect as is the buffalo, great painting !
January 13, 2016 at 3:41 AM
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