Some things trigger memories. Memories of places that echo time spent there. I was pacing the bison herd on the eastern fringes of the Tetons National Park last summer. This bull was seemingly having a bad day. He was snorting and pawing the ground, just kicking up the dust. The little bison calf just didn’t care. He walked within a few feet of the bull nonchalantly pausing to scratch his ear.

The bull's hooves clattered against the rocks as he made the river crossing. Just before he crossed the river he stopped to take a drink. As soon as he took a couple of big gulps of water his attitude improved. Nothing like a cool drink to improve a disposition. 

It is easier to draw big. It is harder to draw small.  I just completed a series of mini drawings, each just 6 x 6” total drawing surface. That means the hawk in the drawing is about 1/24^th life size.  

When you draw small, pencils have to be sharper. The lines must be more refined. The values require more definition. The clay surface is smoother than my usual  fine art drawing paper and more demanding. 

The challenge with small is that everything has to be better. I’m hoping that this level of attention to detail translates to more effective drawing on a larger area.  The smaller I draw, the more I must leave out. There just isn’t room for every line. Eyes are so important and so very tiny in these mini pieces.

Many people think that the smaller you draw, the less time it takes.  That's not entirely true. What really happens is that a square of 1 inch becomes a square of 1/10^th of an inch and the artist has to solve the problem of filling the space with meaning regardless of size.

How do you get the texture that fills an inch to meaningfully fill a space one tenth as big? Proportionately, the tip of the pencil increases in size as the surface shrinks. As the drawing surface gets smaller, the drawing tools cover more area with each stroke.

Proportion is a bigger challenge when you drop in size as well. Even the smallest mistakes barely the width of a hair, are sometimes enough to throw relative size and position off. 

Size matters. Words like exquisite, elegant, and simply wonderful describe small works. Powerful, attention getting, dominating can describe the best of the biggest. Can that same power translate to the tiny?

Four of my miniature drawings are the May Art Special.  Check them out on my website at Monthly Special.

Last summer I was standing by the Yampa River in Steamboat Springs Colorado. It was a beautiful warm day and the river was moving with an almost hypnotic flow of currents curving around rocks. I sat down to enjoy the view. Within a few moments this little weasel joined me. He was clearly interested in me, his bright eyes shining. He would scan the surrounding area with a quick intensity and then turn his gaze to me. In a flash he would be gone, disappearing into the cool darkness behind the boulders lining the river. Just as suddenly he would reappear to scan me. 

 

I would pretend not to see him and this seemed to embolden him. With quick feet he would race to a vantage point that was a little closer but still carefully chosen for its escape routes. We, the weasel and I, spent a couple of companionable hours in each other’s company.

 

After he was gone I was left with reflections. First, the weasel is an intense animal. My father once called a weasel we watched a “high protein” animal. I thought this one was intelligent, quick, and curious.  "Cute" my wife says.  Healthy, sleek, and well groomed also come to mind.

 

The weasel is a flesh eater. It is savage. When it kills, it is ferocious with a no nonsense business attitude. Does the weasel deserve the negative applets  of "sneak," "back-stabbing," and "dishonest"? No. With the weasel, you pretty much get what you see - a small, dynamic, package of pure killer. I’m glad it comes in small packages weighed in ounces and not pounds.

 

I wonder what it thought of me?

Interested in purchasing this art?  Just click here to send an inquiry: contact me

A storm is blowing into the Colorado Rockies. Cold and snow are piling up on the door step but I’m walking on a beach in my memory. The Outer Banks near the Currituck Lighthouse is beautiful in June. It's the perfect place for long walks on the beach. My wife and I are kept company by Sandpipers who race their reflections to delectable little morsels of food.  On the beach, sushi is for the birds.

My art triggers many memories. I look at a drawing and think, “I was there once.” I remember great times with family. Many sand sculptures were carved. Dragon sculptures were a favorite whose fierceness melted in the inevitable rise of high tide. Watching my sons and their cousins play in the surf always brought a smile. Beach times were great times.

There is simplicity in this drawing. It’s not complicated, just a bird and a fuzzy reflection. But as I look at it, the drawing begins to reveal subtle things. Questions take shape, “Where is that bird going?” As it skitters from one place to another, is there a split second where it flies, neither claw touching the ground?” “How can such slender legs move so quickly?” Most of all, “Why do Sandpipers like to keep me company?”

This drawing will keep my memories warm in winter. Warm places and good memories, the combination could not be better.

Limited edition giclee prints of the Currituck Sandpiper can be purchased from my web site or contact me directly to place an order.

When rushing from one art fair to another,  it always seems that time is short and the must do list is long. Hurry up is a constant companion to giddy up.  So, it was peddle to the metal on my way to Jackson, Wyoming, a travel day of 600 long miles.

But every now and then you just have to stop and look. I was just a few miles outside Boulder, Wyoming, when I spotted an osprey nest. One osprey was resting in the nest and the other was perched on a fence post a hundred yards to the north. 

The nest was located down by a stream and the road rose to a height just across from the nest.  Fortunately, a nearby turnout made for an easy, instant decision.  I pulled the jeep off the road, grabbed my camera, and walked back to that place on the road right across from the nest.  Maybe, just maybe, I could shoot down into the nest and get a picture of an adult osprey and her chicks.

 As I approached the osprey in the nest, it let out a short, sharp whistle. The closer I came, the more rapidly it called to its mate. The other osprey on the fence post casually glanced over its shoulder and then, with a beat of its wings, took off flying away from the nest.

I watched as it went behind a line of trees and made a sharp turn to the west. I thought that it was going to fly around the bluff on my left and come in from behind where I was standing. What a great opportunity for some action shots, I thought. In anticipation I set my camera for six frames a second. With my 500 mm lens I should be able to get 20 or 30 good shots.

Unknowingly, I was just about to get a first hand lesson in dynamic soaring.

With my finger on the shutter and my camera rock solid on my monopod, I waited. The osprey rocketed out from behind the edge of the bluff. It must have been traveling well over a hundred miles an hour. With claws extended it zeroed on my position. In reflex my finger held down the shutter. I took three frames, one half a second worth of shooting, before biting the dust. That long lens must make things look bigger than they really are. 

Just a few days later I was watching an osprey hunt over the big bend of the Snake River in the Tetons. It would skim the river at high speed several times. When it spotted what it wanted it gained elevation and then dived into the water flying out of the depths with a fish in its claws. I found out that the osprey can dive up to 12 feet under water to catch its prey.

How absolutely awesome.

I couldn't wait to get back to my studio and draw an osprey from this trip. You can purchase limited edition giclee prints of "Osprey In Flight" by visiting  Art Works - Bird Collection at my website at http://jsullivanart.com.

Have you ever seen an eagle drawing? I have. I’ve seen eagles scribing lazy circles hundreds of feet in the air. I’ve seen them drawing high speed lines over grassy fields. I’ve seen them drawing a bead on unsuspecting rabbits and ground squirrels. I’ve seen eagles drawing. And, I’ve seen a drawing of an eagle; several in fact.

"Empty Nest" was my drawing about a bald eagle leaving his nest in a flurry of adolescent feathers kicked out to fend for himself. A bald eagle falling into the sky from a post six feet high turned into my drawing, "Eagle On A Post."  The drawing, "Eagle Hearts" honors a wedding and featured a bird and her reflection mated for life. The two birds are alike, but different. Just like a happily married couple.

Graceful lines, sharp beaks, powerful claws capture my attention and in doing so draw on my imagination. Perhaps it is my imagination that makes the eagle’s story come to life for me.  Perhaps it is many years experience hiking and working outdoors.  Perhaps it is a combination of watching and waiting.  

Whatever the story, freedom is found in eagles.  Freedom from demands of cell phones and e mails, and artificial urgency.  It is the freedom found in the struggle for survival where there is time just to be an eagle.

"To Be An Eagle" is the first of three eagle drawings I'm currently working on. "I Am Eagle" is also finished that you can see at Art Works, New Work Collection

During March 2010, "To Be An Eagle" is my monthly special purchase.  Check it out at Monthly Special.

Some people think you have to be a famous or glamorous person to warrant an original art commission.  Actually, some of my favorite commissions aren't of people at all ... they feature dogs.

Since I was a kid, I've always enjoyed dogs.  Storm, my current German Sheppard, keeps me company while I draw, exercises me with a daily walk, and keeps me laughing when we play his favorite games.   A friend  claims Storm is my favorite artist's model which, of course, he is.

This piece is called "Home Alone." It reflects the look Storm gives us when he realizes we are leaving and he is not! 

One of my favorite artists who creates wonderful hand turned wooden lamps takes his miniature beagle with him everywhere.  Thelma is small enough to stand on Alan's arm.

Boomer got his name because of his bark which is so loud, it sounds like he is booming.  This drawing is Boomer as a pup.  Now he stands 3 feet tall.  But he still booms!

Shadow and Lightning were visiting in Colorado when their owner asked me to draw them.  I worked very hard on a composition that complimented both dogs, one large and one much smaller.

Please contact me if you would like a drawing of your own dog or other pets.  You can see additional examples at Dogs and other commissions.

The Red Crowned Crane is a magical bird who flies through the orient. Indigenous to Japan and China, the Red Crowned Crane lives a long life and mates for life.

The word crown suggests royalty. Rising above the common, the Red Crowned Crane travels far on wings stretched from sunrise to sunset. One day as I watched these cranes I wondered, what do they talk about? In a thousand miles of travels rowing the air with their wings, gliding through the cool clouds, what crosses their minds? Safe landings, good grain, and raising their young may fill their thoughts. What fills their royal conversations? I doubt that it is the economy. That is a human invention.

Mates fly together with the thought, “I want to be with you on the long journey through life. Let us fly together.” That thought alone is enough for the long journeys, dark nights, cool mornings, loafing in the long warm afternoons, and sunset dancing.

Those thoughts are enough for Valentine’s Day. Don’t you think?

Order a signed, limited edition giclee print of "The Royal Conversation" from J. Sullivan's Art for only $99, the February Valentine's Day special.  To order, click here Monthly Special Ordering.

Sometimes it is incredible how one story leads to another. I’ve been telling the story of “Guardian of the Night Wind” ever since the drawing of Tugi and Black Magic, our ranch horses, emerged from my pencil.  (See the story below.)

After hearing how the cougar attacked Black Magic, inquiring minds always want to know what happened to this handsome Appaloosa horse.  It hasn’t been enough to say, “He’s a fine stallion.” People want to know what he looks like today.

Black Magic was named because he changes color from his summertime black with a white blanket to nearly white all over in winter.  I have just completed this new drawing of Black Magic in his winter coat.

In late October I traveled to our family ranch to complete several chores. There are always the "have-to-do's" that nag and time always seems short when I finally get to enjoy the serenity of western Colorado . On this particular day as I drove into the ranch yard, Black Magic was standing by the corral gate with his winter finery on display. 

I couldn’t resist going over to say hello. He came over to me with his typical request for scratches in all his favorite places. We had a great hour talking about how things were going. Horses are great listeners. Their ears perk up showing their active interest, twitching this way and that. On this day, Black clearly liked my company and agreed to pose for this drawing in his fine winter coat.

You can see how different he is from his coltish days. His summer black colors have transformed into winter white.  His strength is evident in his powerful neck and shoulder. His face shows little of his impish days as a colt. There is both power and gentleness scribed in the lines of his face.

He is my friend.

Are you a horse lover? What's your horse story? I would enjoy hearing from you..

My horse drawings are some of my best selling art. You can look at some of these drawings by navigating to New Works including Black Magic and also the Horses Collection under the Art Works tab. 

And, if you are looking for a commissioned drawing of your horse, please contact me to discuss what you have in mind.

Following is the printed version of a story I've been sharing at the summer art festivals that relates a special event on our family's western Colorado ranch that also inspired several of my horse drawings.

One day in 1996, the chief of the Ute Tribe located in Eastern Utah called my father and said, “Joe, your ranch in Meeker, Colorado, is sacred ground to our tribe. It was there that we camped the first night following the Meeker Massacre in 1879. We would like to hold a powwow on your ranch.  May we do so?” My father said, “We would be honored to have you.”

On the night that the powwow was held, there was dancing and storytelling around the council fire. While this was taking place, two new foals were born in the corral just a few hundred yards away.

 

My sister, Kathleen, went to an elder of the tribe and asked if he would do her the honor of naming the new foals. The elder said, “No. That honor belongs to the medicine man.”

 

So the elder and my sister found the medicine man and they went to the corral. The medicine man took his pipe and sacred sage from his medicine pouch along with his bundle of eagle feathers. He then performed the purification ritual and concluded with a naming ceremony.

 

When he was done, he turned to my sister and said, “This one is Tungundai.  It means Guardian of Night Wind. When she grows up she will have a colt. She will save this colt from mortal danger. Her sister’s name is Acowacheche. It means little night bird because she is a little flighty.”

 

My sister burning with curiosity asked, “Tell me more of Tungundai. What do you mean, have a colt and save colt from mortal danger?”

 

The medicine man replied, “I say no more.” And he walked off.

 

Several years later, Tugundai gave birth to her first offspring. He was a beautiful colt my sister named Black Magic. 

 

Twelve weeks after Black Magic was born, one night around midnight, he was attacked by a cougar and saved by his mother, “Guardian of the Night Wind.”

 

© 2006 by J. Sullivan’s Art. All rights reserved.

 

In 2006, J. B. Sullivan produced “Guardians of the Night Wind,” an original pencil drawing of the mare and her colt as told in the story above. Limited edition giclee prints of this art work can be viewed and ordered at the Art Works tab for Horse Drawings Collection.

 

Coming next ... Black Magic grows up and a new drawing is completed by J. B. Sullivan.

On long car rides that were boring to children, my sons would get tired of their toys, games, and music. Back in the day, before iPods, CD players, and all the other gadgets with ear buds, we could still talk to each other, front seat passengers and back.

When Jason and Kyle were just little whipper snappers, Dad was still a sort of hero who had a wealth of stories from his childhood on the ranch in western Colorado. Indeed, we often sat around the table after a filling meal in my family's home and laughed together over the vast repertoire of family tales.

Some of these involved disasters with the farm equipment that were only funny later because family members and the tractors, trailers, combines, etc more or less survived the ordeals.

Sometimes I read stories or poems, my most favorite being "The Ballad of the Ice Worm Cocktail" by Robert Service a humorous story from the old days in the Yukon that would always make us laugh.

Then there were all the dog stories that were part of my childhood. Our ranch dogs could be very endearing as well as extremely irritating. They always wanted to be in the thick of every farm activity.  

One, named Socks would ride in the back of the pickup, barking the entire trip and drive my Dad nuts. Once Dad's frustration was so great, he grabbed some bailing wire and wrapped it round the dog's mouth. Wouldn't you know it, that darn dog just kept trying to bark anyway. "Bawoof! Bawoof!"

Even though my sons know most of these family stories by heart, they brought a smile to the old man's face when they asked, "Tell us a dog story, Dad."

Here is a drawing of one of my favorite dog commissions, "Shadow and Lightning." I especially enjoyed the challenge of creating a composition of two dogs of such different sizes.

Follow this link to see some of the other dogs I have drawn Dog Drawings

Do you have a dog story to share?