Owl Parliament

A group of owls sits perched on the edge of an old, moss covered bird bath. Representing several species, they seem to be holding a council or meeting of some sort. As it is fall, perhaps they have met to discuss the coming winter. There is a great grey owl, a great horned owl, and a snowy owl. They are flanked by two smaller barn owls. Each of them is subtly reflected in the still waters of the bird bath. All of the owls look back at, you, the viewer. Around them, the old twisted oaks have begun to shed their leaves for the autumn, yet the trunks are still covered in a deep green moss. Meanwhile a subtle mist drifts through the forest foliage.

For this work, I wanted to present a rather mysterious scene featuring some of the owl models I've sculpted over the past few months. As predators, I find that owls can, in some ways, be a bit creepy. So in order to emphasize this, I made them all staring back at the viewer, as if you have just interrupted their meeting. But I also like the idea that they are having some sort of council of the wise (as owls are a symbol of wisdom).

For the environment, I wanted an intense but unusual palette of colors. So I picked orange and green to dominate the scene and give it a surreal sense.

Thanks for looking!
Daniel

Galloping Mustangs

Three mustangs race across the grassy plains of the American West. On a cool November day, clouds drift through the cold blue skies over grass that has turned yellow and brown. Despite the chill in the air, these three wild paint horses kick up dust as they gallop freely across the prairie with the wind in their manes.

For this work, I was inspired by Edgar Degas's work "Jockeys in the Rain" which I once saw in person (though I can't remember at which museum). I liked the way the composition emphasized directionality of the riders and horses. I wanted to make a similar equine work, but I wanted a much more energetic scene featuring three very active horses (and no people), something more befitting of the American Wild West. I made the composition roughly in the shape of an arrow pointing to the right to emphasize the speed, motion, and direction of the animals as they cut through frame.

I created this image using CGI technology and digital painting techniques.

Thanks for looking!
Daniel Eskridge

The Windigo's Remains

A giant skull covered in moss lies on its side in a dense, misty forest. A path in the woods goes right through it's mouth. On this path, a woman in a short fur shawl rides a pale horse with a black mane and tail towards the skull. She appears to have stopped through, awed by the site of the massive skeletal remains of the giant that are before her.

Giants occur quite often in Native American folklore. One of the most well known is the Windigo, also call Wintiko, Kee-wakw, and Chenoo among others. From story to story they vary in sized and appearance, but can sometimes be very large. Generally they are said have once been human but transformed into monsters as they turned to cannablism. Sometimes they are incased in skin made from ice or stone. Another recurring legend about them is that their original human form in encased within the giant's heart.

I didn't really have a particular story or legend in mind when I planned out this image in my mind. I just had this concept of a giant skull resting in the woods. I added the girl on horseback more for a sense of scale, then made the scene vary foggy to give it a mystical quality.

Thanks for looking,
Daniel

Serenading The Fall

A woman in a light brown, floral-patterned dress sits on some large grey boulders on the banks at a bend in a river playing a lute. It's autumn and the trees are alive will bright fall colors: red, yellow, and orange. These are reflected in the waters of the wide lazy river. Yet it is still early enough in the season that the grass beneath the flame colored trees is still a vibrant green. Overhead, thick puffy clouds drive in a deep blue sky.

The musician strums her lute as she plays a gentle tune to reflect the mood of the warm, lazy autumn day.

The autumn is my favorite time of year. I have created a lot of artworks with a fall environment, but for this one I wanted much more intense colors and a crisp. So, I used a much cleaner atmosphere than my usual somewhat misty backgrounds.

Thanks for looking,
Daniel

Microraptor

A small blue and purple feathered microraptor sits on a fallen tree in a dense Cretaceous era forest. It looks to the left to show its head in profile as is perches on the log. Its tail curves slightly in the same direction, show off its bright plumage. The twisted trunk of the down tree is covered with moss and shelf fungus. Ferns carpet the primeval forest floor as rays of sunlight cut through the thick green canopy above.

The microraptor was one of the smallest of dinosaurs. It was covered in feathers had wings on both it's arms and legs. It is one of the most commonly found fossils.

I decided to go a little wild with the coloring of this little dino. Originally, I had him in various shades of brown, but he didn't seem eye catching enough. So, I decided blue and purple would really make this fella stand out. After all, many birds have bright and intricate feather patterns, why couldn't a prehistoric cousin not have the same?

Thanks for looking!
Daniel Eskridge

Lone Wolf

A lone gray wolf stands atop a pile of snow covered boulders. Seen in profile, this alert hunter looks across a wintry landscape in the North American wilderness. He stands next to a twisted old oak tree almost as if he is guarding its gnarled trunk. A few fir trees can be seen in the distance and dark clouds fill the winter skies.

This is a lone wolf. Lone wolves are wolves who, for some reason or another, don't run with a pack. The concept of the lone wolf has come to stand as symbol for people who do things as an individual rather than as part of a group.

This is the latest addition to my wolf themed series of artworks. For this one, I wanted to create a proud looking wolf standing tall on a natural pedestal, not just any lone wolf, but the epitome of one. I used a vertical format with a very low horizon line to give him a heroic look. Just to add a bit of visual interest and to break up the sky, I added the gnarled old tree, but I made it as such that it makes the wolf appear to be gigantic.

Thanks for looking,
Daniel

The Introvert Artist

I've just started my new blog The Introvert Artist where I tell you how I go about selling art online. I've gotten pretty good at selling prints via print on demand services and I see no reason not to share some my tips and techniques.

So enjoy everybody!
Daniel

Perched Dragon

A brightly colored dragon with with red, green, and yellow scales sits perched on a high rocky outcropping. Smoke drifts from its nostrils as it spreads its wings to catch the cool breeze. Before it stretches a valley of rolling hills dotted with forests of fir trees. Giant jagged mountains edge the other side, their massive snow covered peaks reaching into the sky.

This is the latest in my series of fantasy themed artworks. For this one, I wanted to create a very bright scene, so I made the dragon extra colorful. I love the way the mountains in the background turned out in this.

Thanks for looking!
Daniel Eskridge

The Lady of Halloween

Here is a spirit of Halloween, a human manifestation of the season: A black robed woman, on the back of a midnight black horse, holds aloft a lantern in a forest rich in the yellow, orange, and red leaves of fall. Her face is half concealed behind a dark hood, yet you can still see that the gazes directly back at you, the viewer. The dark steed looks directly at you as well, steam blowing from it's nostrils, a much angrier visage than that of its peaceful rider.

This is my Halloween themed work for 2014. While I create a lot of autumn themed works because I like the color of fall foliage, I rarely create a work that is specifically for Halloween itself. However, I wanted to make a new artwork this year to submit to various Halloween themed contests and discussions and such.

Thanks for looking!
Daniel Eskridge

Couple at the Apple Tree

A young man with curly brown hair wearing a loose white shirt and green breeches strums a lute while leaning against an old apple tree. He plays a happy tune while a woman in a long blue-grey dress reaches for the lowest apple left on the branches. Around the tree lies a farm field of long golden grass. In the distance a forest borders the field. It is a warm autumn day and the leaves have turned bright red and yellow, perfect whether for this couple to flirt with one another around the old gnarled fruit tree.

It's apple season here in North Georgia, and I wanted to create a pastoral work featuring an apple tree. Generally, apple trees aren't as big as the one I depicted here, but I wanted this one to be a kind of special location, a destination for the people like the two I depicted here.

Thanks for looking!
Daniel Eskridge

Waiting for the Snow

A gray wolf rests in tall dry grass late in the year. Behind it, an evergreen forest lines the field in this North American wilderness. Also called the timber wolf or Western wolf, this animal is one of the top predators of the cold North. It's at home in wintry conditions, and this one looks up into the sky where dark clouds amass as the first winter storm rolls in. This canine hunter anxiously awaits the first falling of snow in the season.

This is the second artwork in my new wolf themed series. For this one, I wanted a mostly still image of a wolf as it relaxes, and I wanted a really close-up image where you can see every detail of the animal's coat.

Thanks for looking!
Daniel Eskridge

Night Warrior

An American Indian warrior kneels by a camp fire with his knife in one hand and his other over the fire. His face is painted and he looks at the you, the viewer, as if you were expected. He wears leather leggings and his shoulders are draped in the furry hide of a bear. Behind the Native American man, thousands of stars fill the sky.

I rarely make night scenes, but a recent commission I had required me to do one. I created this image largely to practice night time lighting, but I liked it so much that I decided to go ahead and publish it to my gallery.

Thanks for looking,
Daniel

Allosauruses

Three allosauruses kick up dust as they hunt along a rocky track created by the passage of large dinosaurs. Deep green plants line the sides of the trail, while a conifer forest dominates the background. Overhead clouds drift through the blue prehistoric skies.

The allosaurus was a theropod dinosaur from the Jurrassic period. Some paleontologists theorize that Allosaurs were pack hunters, so I though it might be fun to depict a trio of the creatures on the hunt for this latest addition to my paleoart series.

Thanks for looking!
Daniel Eskridge

Autumn Pegasus

A winged horse lands on the banks of a shallow rocky river, splashing water into the autumn air. This is not your usual pegasus though. Rather than the pure white coat one would expect to see on this popular mythological creature, this fantasy beast has taken on some of the colors of the season. In response to the fall foliage of the trees that line the lake, this fantasy steed looks more like a winged paint horse with patches of rich bronze breaking up the white. Meanwhile its mane and tail have turned a deep brown.

Having been over a month since I last added to my fantasy art series, I felt it was time for a new one. Also, it will officially be fall in a few days with the autumn equinox falling on September 23rd this year. So, I decided to create an autumn themed fantasy artwork.

Thanks for looking!
Daniel Eskridge

A Wolf in Autumn

A grey wolf stands in tall yellow grass. Behind it is a forest bright with the colors of fall. The wolf looks directly at the viewer with a calm expression on its face.

I get lots of requests for wolves, but for some reason they tend to have given me trouble in the past. I almost always wound up throwing out any wolf themed art that I made. Most of the time, it was because I didn't like the coat. A wolf's fur patterns are very distinctive and if you get it wrong, it just doesn't look like a wolf. A few weeks ago though, I decided to fix that and paint a new wolf coat for my models. This is the result. I rather like the way it turned out.

Thanks for looking!
Daniel

Farewell to Summer

A grizzly bear sits atop a grassy hill looking down upon the shores of a sparkling blue lake. Clouds drift lazily in the hazy blue sky. Below, the forest that lines the shore has a few trees beginning to change color as the autumn approaches. The bear sits and enjoys one of the last days of summer, relaxing one last time before it starts to prepare its den for the winter hibernation.

As it is mid-september and the summer is getting on here in North Georgia, I wanted to create image themed to match the season.

Thanks for looking!
Daniel

Bison Fight

My latest bison work!

Enjoy,
Daniel

Neoclassical Fall

A woman in a flowery dress reclines on a stone pedestal. The pedestal, carved with intricate patterns, rests on a stone terrace next to two urns and overlooks forested hills that stretch into the distance. The hills are bright with red, yellow, and orange leaves of the fall foliage A single gnarled oak tree grows next to the pedestal. Its leaves too are bright with autumn color and a few of them have fallen the the ground around the reclining girl.

For this artwork, I wanted to go for a neoclassical style. The woman has a rather formal pose as if she is posing for a portrait. Also, she is surrounded by sculpted stone elements emphasizing strong linear forms. At the same time though, I wanted have an explosion of warm colors, so I set this in an autumn environment.

Thanks for looking,
Daniel

Octopus

An octopus with an almost red and pink marbled skin moves among brown coral in an ocean shallow. The creatures tentacles whip around as it scuttles through the aquatic landscaped. The cephalapod turns its menacing gace upon you as moves towards you.

This is the latest in my aquatic creature series depicting undersea life. A few weeks ago, I published "Warriors of the Primeval Sea" ( http://bit.ly/1sHjcCU ) which featured an octopus battleing it out with a plesiosaur. I like the way the octopus looked so much that I decided to make this work featuring him alone.

Thanks for looking,
Daniel

Ichthyosaurs

A school of Ichthyosaurs swims over a bed of seaweed in the Jurassic seas. Though they may look like dolphins, they are, in fact, reptiles, and they swam the oceans in the time of the dinosaurs. The particular species depicted here is stenopterygius, very similar in appearance to the ichthyosaurus, for which the order is named. Stenopterygius, though, was about twice as big overall, but with a proportionally smaller head and flippers.

Thanks for looking,
Daniel

Bear Hunt

This is a scene from the Blackfoot story "The Bear Woman". In the story, a woman refuses to get married, much to the consternation of her family. One day, her little sister follows her into the wilderness to spy on her and learns that she has taken a bear as husband. She tells her father and brothers who then find and kill the bear. Later, the Bear Woman gains the ability to transform into a bear herself. After slaughtering her village, there is a chase between her and her brothers who eventually kill her, but, having no people to return to, they ascend to the skies and become the stars of the great bear constellation.

The part of the story I've depicted here is near the end where the brothers clash with their sister who has taken her bear form. Two Native American warriors on the backs of mustangs encounter a massive brown bear on a snowy field under cloud filled evening skies. The lead hunter draws back his bow and takes aim from galloping mount, while the other holds aloft his lance as his horse rears. The bear charges savagely, kicking up a shower of powdery snow as it roars in anger.

A few weeks ago, I created another image from this same legend that takes place near the beginning of the story (you can find it here: http://bit.ly/XW1IGe). I liked that one so much that I decided to make this one as a follow up.

Thanks for looking,
Daniel

Snowy Owl

The Snowy Owl is one of the most well known kinds of owl. This bird can be found in the higher latitudes of the northern hemisphere in Asia, Europe, and North America.

I am currently working on an image involving several breeds of owls. This was the second one that I digitally sculpted and painted after the great horned owl. Like the first, I thought I would make a stand-alone image to allow viewers a closer look at the model.

Thanks for looking!
Daniel

Bringer of Fall

A pinto mustang with an overo patterned coat trots along a country road. Fall is in full swing and the forest that runs along side the road is bright with the reds and golds of autumn colored leaves. in the dry afternoon air, the horse kicks up rocks and dust as it makes its way through the scene.

In the Metro-Atlanta area, which is where I live, August is still very much in the middle summer when it comes to the weather. However, with school starting again for all the neighborhood kids, I found myself in an autumn frame of mind.

A few years ago, I had made a horse themed artwork called the "Bringer of Spring". In that one, the horse was galloping thunderously across a field with strong saturated colors all around. I decided to make this one as a follow-up. Here, the horse moves at a lazier pace and colors are more mellow. It represents the way autumn arrives here in North Georgia. Rather than coming in with thunder storms and wild temperature swings like spring does, fall arrives here more as the slow decay of summer. Rather than galloping in, it trots.

Thanks for looking,
Daniel

The Biggest Shark

Out of the murky waters emerge menacing forms. Two massive sharks prowl though beds of seaweed in prehistoric ocean shallows. A little red crab, too small for the great predators to take notice of looks up from the sandy sea floor.

Continuing my series of aquatic themed paleoart, I decided to depict the biggest shark of all time: Megalodon. This was a shark four times the size of the modern Great White. If these creatures were around today and one came upon you scuba diving, it could swallow you in a single bite.

Thanks for looking!
Daniel Eskridge

Warriors of the Primeval Sea

Under the surface of the Cretaceous sea, two might beasts do battle. A giant octopus has snared a styxosaurus in its tentacles. The long necked marine reptile strikes back by snapping its toothy jaws at the cephalopod's head.

Very little is known about prehistoric octopi. Because they have no skeletal structure they leave practically nothing behind to fossilize; however, because of a discovery of five such octopus fossils in Lebanon dating from 90 million years ago, we do know that at least a few species existed in the Cretaceous era oceans. Portraying one big enough to take on a school bus sized styxosaurus though requires me to use quite a lot of artistic license.

I've created a number of aquatic scenes lately, but for this one, I wanted to ratchet up the excitement a bit. The problem though is that most aquatic creatures are a bit on the stiff side with a very limited range of motion in their bodies and limbs. As a result, portraying action in a still artwork was proving difficult. I solved this by making one of the combatants an octopus. With those long tentacles, I could get lots of curved lines into the composition and create a better sense of drama.

A disclaimer about my paleoart:

When it comes to paleoart, the images I create favor 'art' more than 'paleo'. While I try my best to depict animals as accurately as possible I'm make no claim that they 100% scientifically accurate. The same goes for the environment I depict them in. I am primarily interested in creating aesthetically pleasing images and paintings. Scientific accuracy comes second behind artistic expression.

Thanks for looking!
Daniel

A Mermaid and Her Pets

A castaway stranded in a lifeboat is visited by a beautiful mermaid. The man stares at the golden scaled half woman-half fish in disbelief. Meanwhile, as she gazes back with a tempting smile on her face, two sharks circle the waters beneath the small boat. It looks like it is time for the Mermaid to feed her pets.

Thanks for looking!
Daniel Eskridge