This painting of a Coyote is the latest in my Totem series. The most recent before this one was the Bald Eagle Totem, finished in November of last year. If you do the math, that’s almost seven months, which is far too long, especially if you consider that these are my favorite paintings to work on. With the daily editorial cartoons, the portraits of people, the pet commissions, and the great deal of time spent on the preparation for the Calgary Expo this year, I’ve been busy and otherwise occupied, so the Totems were temporarily on the back burner. The next one will be coming a lot sooner than December, I assure you.
I painted my first animal in this style in November of 2009, the Grizzly Bear Totem. Hard to believe that it’s been over three years. The funny thing is that the Coyote was one of the first animals I wanted to paint but for some reason I kept shuffling it down the line, painting other animals instead. As is often the case, I may have the reference photos ready to go for months before I get to the actual painting, but this one has easily waited the longest. It also took the longest to paint if you consider that I started it in February and it sat idle for months until I started back on it last week. I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out, but as always, I’m already looking to the next one.
