u/graham-watts-art

Painted by me. Graham Watts

— I’m a Canadian oil painter based in Vancouver. Thought I’d start with one of my grizzlies. I’ve been lurking around Reddit for a while, so I figured it was finally time to actually post something. I’m Graham, an oil painter based in Vancouver, British Columbia. A lot of my work is inspired by the wildlife and landscapes around Western Canada — grizzlies, wolves, eagles, mountains, Whistler and the Sea-to-Sky. This is one of my grizzly bear paintings. I work in oil on canvas and tend to start with something recognizable, then push the colour, texture and light until it feels more like my memory or impression of the animal rather than a photographic reproduction. One of the things I love about painting wildlife is trying to capture that moment when an animal looks directly back at you. There’s something very different about experiencing that in the wilderness compared with looking at a photograph. Anyway, first post here. I’d genuinely be interested to know what catches your eye first — the expression, colour, texture, or something else? Happy to answer questions about the painting or my process as well.