Bear First Mother
- Kaaren Poole
- 3 minutes ago
- 3 min read
My fascination with wildlife began with my admiration for bears. And then, when I learned that it was likely that bears were the first creatures humans worshipped, I could certainly see why. They possess immense strength, a fierce protective instinct, a talent healing, and an introspective mind. To me, they’re the forest’s first mother.
In my last blog post, I discussed the beginning phase of this art journal spread which was painting the sky—with apologies, of course, to Vincent Van Gogh and his “Starry Night.” Then it was time to paint the bear.
I’m usually pretty confident about painting or drawing animals, but this time, even though I’d started with a drawing I was happy with, painting it was soooo difficult! The first layer of paint was, frankly, hideous. In a way, I wish I’d taken a photo so I could show you how bad it was. But I guess I just didn’t want to remember it.
I was trying to block in the different shades of brown, capturing shadows and highlights to begin defining the form. But while some areas were opaque, others were translucent and blotchy. I tried to tell myself that it was just the base for adding layers of textured fur. As it turned out, I just didn’t have the heart to proceed in that way. It just seemed too fussy and time-consuming for something that started out so poorly.
Out of frustration and desperation, I grabbed a dark brown colored pencil and just started scribbling over the whole, pooe creature. I was a little more careful over the face, but on the body, I must have looked like an angry toddler with a crayon.
Amazingly, when I stepped back and took a look at what I’d done, it was OK!
I was shocked, but grateful. This is an art journal spread, and an art journal doesn’t expect perfection. It expects experimentation and exploration. Nonetheless, I do want to be at least somewhat proud of every page. In this case, maybe it was the occasional temper tantrum which saved the day. Whatever it was, I’ll take it!
As for the rest of the spread, there isn’t much to say. Originally, the bottom of the space between the clumps of trees was yellowish. I didn't like that, so I cooled it down. I added more to the sky with Posca paint pens—more stars and some swirls of dots.
And there’s a little bit of text: Bear First Mother in runes. Originally, I thought I’d write more, but it didn’t feel like it needed more.
By the way, in case you're not familiar with them, runes form a phonetic alphabet, so one can represent any language with them. This is "bear first mother" spelled out phonetically with the rune symbols.
So, here she is, the First Mother, the Bear.
I have a YouTube channel and there are several videos there about art journaling, as well as art project videos. In fact, I just added another art journal flip through video. You can access my channel by clicking the button below. Why not check it out? And if you like what you see, please subscribe. Subscribing is free and helps my videos get found.
I publish a weekly email newsletter, An Artful Path, which contains brief articles on art, animals, writing, the garden, and musings on life. You can subscribe on the home page of my website (just click the button below and scroll to the bottom of the page). Don't forget to claim your thank you gift for subscribing. And while you're on my website, www.KaarenPoole.com, take a look around!
Your email address is safe with me. I don't share that information with anyone! And you can unsubscribe at any time.
Comments