Just finished this image for Trappers Post , for an article from one of the trappers of the Last Alaskans TV show. He traps the ANWR . I have another image to go with this one, as a set of two .

JACK !! I thought you'd like to see this, also.

Since this looked so wild in the beginning stages ( the ugly stage), I thought maybe folks here would find the process a bit interesting. Done with high lightfast quality coloured pencils, they look and blend like paint. But so much faster for me to do, with no cleanup.

Fur has the prism of reflective light in such beautiful ways. When you call a fur "glossy", that means it is very good quality. I generally put down the lightest tones first , then layer with darker and darker tones , finally, with black if that is needed.

When I occasionally show someone these stages, I get a hoot of reactions. New clients surely question the choice they made of commissioning me as they stare at what looks like a drug induced psychedelic trip, or a "touched" mind, similar to what the famed Vincint van Gogh began to show in his paintings as his mental state progressed.

One of the funnest clients was Pete in Fairbanks, when I showed him his hound Tucker in those stages. He tried his best to stay positive, but I knew what he was thinking...I had fun messing with his mind.

"Ummmmmmm, thats interesting ! Okaaaay...."

"No, I'm not on drugs ....when you see the finished, I hope to redeem myself in decent enough sanity displayed !"

The more I draw wolverines , the more I enjoy them. They are really colourful anyway , but their jet blue-black areas contrast so well with the host of colours they sport.

What pill did you take?!?
Lol seriously, just BEAUTIFUL work!!!

I have caught several like that top image.
Does that wolverine have only one ear ?

LOL Smash, I haven't heard that tune in many years. Well ya know, artists can perceive the world very differently ...maybe that's the pill...the right side of the brain !

Ken, his ears are more flattened back. In the story, he is claiming the salmon while a grizzly fights off two wuffs. He is all hackled up in guard mode. So that other ear isn't forward. A lot like big brown bears when they fight or charge...you can't see their ears at all . Just sprigs of fur where the ears are supposed to be

WOW!!

I should have asked if he cut his other ear off

I get you now ! Classic van Gogh style !

Sharon you are amazing. I can not understand how you went from the top one to the bottom. NO ARTISTIC ability at all = none here. Or do you mean those freaks at the Olympics will turn out normal in a few days????? ha ha I mean nothing to take away from you or your work.....jk

JK, unlike artists' techniques, who have worked like this for centuries, there is no turning normal for those other things !

All they've done is plagiarize nature's light reflection colours ,that have been this way forever, because they have no talents at all.

I know what you meant, though, and I wish it was as easy as your humor suggests !

Thanks for showing the stage and explaining it so well. My brother who is also an artist loved "layering" some of his fish drawings with colored pencils. I use to see the scales drawn in gold and silver tones then blended into the final colors with a multitude of different tones. Artist that draw, color, paint have always awed me in there ability to make an image come to life. I look forward to these types of posts. Thank you

Amazing work, Sharon. Thank you for sharing this with us all. No way I could do that.

So many artist's renditions and taxidermy mounts have the wolverine as a growling, teeth-bearing caricature. I prefer them depicted or mounted with a closed mouth and a serene disposition, the same as every one of them I've seen in the wild (unless in a trap).

Really neat the way you do that, with the subtlety of the vivid colors in the final product. I see the highlights, Sharon. Beautiful!!

Sharon do you have a favorite furbearer???

Beautiful work! Wow!

And who doesn't like Grace Slick?

Sharon. I want to thank you for how much time you have saved me.
While admiring your amazing work over the years, I have seen no reason to entertain any effort whatsoever in painting or drawing anything. Your talent is amazing.
Giving up has freed me up to focus on my real passion which is restoring '47-'54 Chevrolet pickup trucks. I do have a real knack for that. I am on number four. The last one sold for $55,000. The one before that would have sold for more, but I gave it to my son. The one I am building currently will be a complete ground up restoration, with the goal of not being able to tell that it did not roll off of the assembly line in 1952.
Thank you again!

Many thanks for everyone’s fun comments and appreciation.

Jack, I too don’t care for the full bared teeth look on them. I do, howevah, like how they drop their jaw just a wee bit to be able to see a hint of those white lowers , a hint of what’s in there. Like when they run , and breathe hard. In this case, he is a bit huffy, as just mere yards away, a grizzly is in earnest engaged with two wuffs, all of whom want the fish . He plans on dragging it off in hopes of enjoying it all to himself . When you like one of my wolverines, I know I got it right.

Turtle, isn’t it neat to watch someone else work like that ? I love to see and learn from fellow artists in the art community I’m affiliated with.

Smash, I don’t know if I have one favorite . I do have preferences towards all red fox phases, blue arctic fox, greys, marten, wuffs, and wolverines. It’s their fur colours and thick texture I love . And of course , anytime I can put them in action. Seems like you love the foxes too .


Carl, your restoration of those fine autos is sheer art talent. And it is so great to see them all fixed up , even with a bit of pinstriping. Pick up a sketch pad and just have fun . That is what art is all about . It is about making one happy doing anything. Not how they draw or what style they have. Just have fun. That would make me happy , to encourage you to have fun. I began by the paint by numbers kits. I loved it, and sometime I’d have a ball doing that again. They are fun and restful. Been decades, but I’d love to do that again someday. If you’d like, feel free to post any pics of your restorations here, or as Nessy does, make a subject with them . The talent of people here is astounding, we all love to enjoy each other’s talents. It’s all art.

Jack’s ink skull art is magnificent. I’d love if he posted his here too.

Anyone is welcome to share.

I just noticed how exceedingly outrageous those bright hues looked on this one, and thought I’d give the Tman Tribe a chuckle. A look into my Vincent Van Gogh mind.

Amazing artwork. Seeing the in progress works really gives you an appreciation for the thought process and labor that goes into finished pieces.

Thank you for sharing.

Outstanding work as usual!

Sharon, all of Your Wolverines have been Perfection.

This one Above is just so Beautiful .