Grey-blue nature.

Here are three of my photos in a similar range of colors.  I think they'd make a nice display on a wall and lend a sense of peace and the great outdoors to any home.

The top and bottom photos were taken near the truck stop, just outside Belt, Montana.  The river runs along there, and the scenery is beautiful.  I had Robert drop me off so I could walk along the river, looking for photos.

The little bird in the middle photo lives in our yard and eats seeds from the bird feeder.  She's very friendly but doesn't allow us to get  close to her.  So I take photos where I can get them and on this day, she was high in the tree.

You can purchase my photos by emailing me at donnaridgway1  @hotmail.com (remove the space) or by shopping in my Etsy shop.  You can also purchase donna ridgway canvas prints on my Fine Art America store.

"I'm a Real Bright Fellow!" More digital work...

"I'm a Real Bright Fellow!"

First off, I love seeing meadowlarks on fence posts! They're such in integral part of spring in Montana! But there are all ready hundreds of photos of meadowlarks on posts....so I wanted to do something different...

Secondly, I was thinking of the value of tones, sepia, black and white, and full color. So this piece explores that theme also.

When I was finished with the work, the title popped into my head...so there's also a dose of humor in this photomontage. Hope you enjoy seeing my meadowlarks! :)
Donna Ridgway

Doe in the forest. Acrylic nature painting.

I drew this deer in blue watercolor, on a gessoed mat board. Once I have the shapes and lines o f the deer's form in place, I used acyrlic paint to put color on her.

She's very alert, she's heard a noise in the forest behind her and in one second, she'll be in full flight and we'd never get this glimpse of her beautiful face and wonderful eyes.

She's 4X5" and comes in a gold antique looking frame. She's for sale on ebay today after 5:30 pm MST USA. Starting bid, $15.50, includes frame.

It is very funny to me, to be posting this blog. There are at least 10 people per day on the blog, and several people are subscribed to it. So at a conservative estimate, I'm in contact with 3650 people each year, from the posts on this blog alone.

Yet, I never hear a word from anyone! What do you think when you come here? Do you think I should pack it up? Is my work so bad you don't want to see it any longer? Is there something here you like? Perhaps you could take a moment in time and leave me a comment. Say anything that isn't spam...

Once again, I do thank you for stopping by, I know you're out there! :)

Fox Play, work in progress 6.

I'm getting close to finishing this up. There are a few areas that need some help but they're getting fewer. These fox make me laugh. I love the silly look on the fox in the hole's face.

Once again, see my photo blog to find more photos of these fox playing.

I closed up the studio for the night so I'll have to finish this tomorrow. I'll be working on the area under the top fox's tail.
donna

Fox Play, work in progress 3.

This is where I'm at right now in this painting. And the actual painting is larger than this, I've been scanning portions of it because my camera is in the house and I don't want to go get it. At some point today, I'll take a photo of this and you can see the entire thing. It's actual size is 11X14 inches.

I've got a z composition going on in here now, your eye is lead into the picture by the grey dirt at the front of the fox hole, then it goes up the bank and across the other fox.

To the left of center in the painting, is going to be a center of interest and it will be formed by the lightest lights and the darkest darks in the painting. It's going to be kind of a straight line going down from the fox on top, to the strong colors on the bottom fox.

I'm planning for the main focal point of the entire painting, to be the expression on the face of the bottom fox. She knows from experience, her brother is likely to be up there getting ready to pounce on her, but she isn't sure. Her ears are listening as hard as they can to hear him and she's ready to play the game of pounce and wrestle.

When I get to this stage of painting, the painting itself takes over and I don't need to look at my reference photos any longer. It seems the painting tells me what it wants to become. There are times when I stare at it for a long time before I see my next step, other times I can work away for an hour before I have to stop and take stock again.

I want my animals to look "real" but I also want them to look like animals in a painting, not animals in a photo. I want them to have more personality than the photo, and more "life" to them. So I'll make expression on their faces by positioning their eyes, flattening their ears, exaggerating the angles of their feet or the tension in their bodies...Whatever it takes to make them seem more interesting and more lifelike.

It helps to have seen these guys actually playing in the wild. You have first hand experience of what they do and how they do it. You feel the intensity of their play and the strength of their interactions with each other.
donna

update on the zebra aceo card series

These zebras are starting to take shape. I still have adjustments to make. Colors to add. I'm missing some shadows where they need to be.

My mind is going crazy thinking about this, a series of the patterns on giraffes and other animals that have these stripes or blotches, alligators, large canvases that span a wall done in acyrlics...it's mind boggling!

I went to bed last night at midnight, but I couldn't sleep for thinking about these poor zebra looking so terrible so I was up at 5 am to work on them some more. They're coming along. I can't wait to add more to them.

Robert has started therapy again so we have to go to town three days a week, does that ever take time out of painting. I bring my laptop and work on my web pages while he's in the hospital. Sometimes I sit and draw the fish in the fish tanks or the people who walk by.

After therapy, he has headaches that won't quit so he's pretty quiet. Not very much fun. But we also realize there are so many people who got hurt like he did and are in worse shape so we have to count our blessings. The main thing is, we're together and we have each other.
Donna

What happens when you take the middle out of a herd of zebras?

I'm working on taking the middle out of a herd of zebras. Painting them one stripe at a time. Without drawing them on the paper before I paint. Talk about fun! This is a series of aceo cards, there are three shown here. Just to warn you, I'll probably add to this series as I'm excited about these zebras. I think they're very interesting and you don't have to have the entire form of the animals showing, to guess what they are.

You aren't seeing the finished product, I've yet to strengthen the highlights and shadows of the individual animals.

It's very interesting to me, how these animals must be standing in buff colored grasses. You wouldn't expect the warm colors to be found on the underbellies of the critters yet there they are! You see the hot light of a noon day sun on their backs, washing the black stripes into a hazey blue. The light is reflecting upward from the grass, causing the warm colors to show beneath the form of the animals.

Thank you for stopping by, hope you enjoyed what's here of my zebra series.
Donna

Antelope oil painting, wildlife art.

I keep hearing people say, you are to start the new year the way you intend to finish it so I have my little painting finished up by 8 am today. This herd of antelope was near Billings, Mt. You might wonder if the rocks are this weird any place on earth, but they are like this near Billings. Strange colors, strange shapes and it makes a fun landscape to paint.

One of my goals this year, is to improve on landscape skills and to do more and different animals than just horses. So come back to this blog in December and compare this landscape to one I do in December. You'll be able to tell if I reached my goal or not.

Don't worry, I'll still do plenty of horses! In fact I think I hear one calling me now, begging for me to put him on a canvas.....

My wishes for you, are the best for this New Year.

Donna


Purchase info on this painting:
Name: Antelope near Billings
Size: 8x10 on canvas board.
Medium: Oil Painting
Price: $100
Contact me: montanahorsegallery@earthlink.net