Commissioned by the Ritz Carlton Residences in Vail, CO. Golden Eagle is one of four paintings I have been commissioned to paint for this project. They were looking for wildlife and birds indigenous to the Rocky Mountains. I immediately thought of Golden Eagles. Even though I am privileged to see many Bald Eagles where I live on the plains of north east Colorado, the only time I've seen Golden Eagles is when I've been up in the mountains and foothills.

Although the Bald Eagle gets all the glory, there is something quite noble and beautiful about the Golden  - less flashy, but perhaps more intense. The Bald Eagle is larger than the Golden, but can't fly as high, nor is it as graceful as it's plainer counterpart. Bald Eagles, according to Ted Andrews in Animal Speak, are associated with feminine power, Goldens are associated with masculine energy.  It seems this Golden Eagle is definitely masculine.

Getting this commission has been pretty exciting - and a lesson in patience. I was first contacted by the Art Consultant nearly a year ago; finally got the go-ahead about three weeks ago. Painting for commission is in many ways a whole different ballgame than painting to put in a gallery or post on a website. In the first place, with a commissioned piece, there is the pressure of "expectation." Will the pieces meet with the expectations of the consultant? Since this is the first time I've worked with this firm, there are a lot of unknowns. With any new "relationship" there is the dance of learning the ropes. I do have a certain "color palette" to work within - I've got fabric samples from the rooms in which the paintings will hang. The good news is, the consultant chose me for the commission because my color palette fits in with their color scheme.

The other little mind game that plays out with a commission is that I've already been paid - when you send a painting to the gallery, it hangs there until someone comes in and decides to purchase it. With a commission it is already purchased, so instead of painting for yourself and letting the right buyer find the painting, you are painting for someone else.  Again, the saving grace is remembering that I was chosen because of my painting style. So I have to put aside the pressure and just do what I do.

I thought I'd post pictures of the painting in progress - I always find it interesting to see how a painting was painted -what decisions were made to get to the point when the artist steps back and says, "I'm done."



This was the initial sketch and lay in of color.


I added in the suggestion of feathers and added a wash to the wing.


Worked more on the wing, adjusting values. At this point I need to make sure everything supports the "star" of the painting, the eye of the Eagle.


Finished painting.