Innocence

• MEDIUM:  Acrylics on Canvas

• SIZE:  18" x 14"

• STATUS: For sale $450, in a wood frame with metallic copper on a black finish

"This tiny fawn inspired me to capture his innocence in a painting. I grabbed the rare opportunity to get reference photos when we rescued him from our spring-fed creek. His distress cries were louder than you would think such a tiny critter could muster, as he couldn't find a way up the steep muddy banks. I carefully wrapped him in a big towel and lifted him up to my husband on nearby high ground, carefully setting him down on the forest floor. Rick and I had all we could do to leave him behind, but knew this was the best chance for him to be reunited with his mother.

Eyes are always important in my animal paintings, and in this pose the fawn's eyes appear understandably 'on alert,' as are his upright front-facing ears. His fur was still wet from the creek, but he stopped crying as he began to relax. I tried to emphasize his small size in reference to the leaf shapes around him and added the diagonal branch which counterbalances the angle of his nose to his larger ear. In my daily forays through the woods, I love to see the wide variety of colors and growths on tree bark - here it introduces blue-green and complementary yellow-orange tones into the painting.

My final step shows up better in person than in a photo… I spattered the background with a Golden Fluid Acrylic paint called Iridescent Copper Fine. This subtle touch gives a little sparkle to the dark leafy areas and it ties the painting in with the rubbed copper tones on the frame I selected."