This was the perfect choice of painting to start at the end of one year and finish in the first week of the next. There’s nothing I enjoy painting more than a grizzly bear, and this face was a lot of fun.
The composition is similar to my Peanuts painting, though that one was square and featured a younger bear based on photos I took years ago of Berkley at Discovery Wildlife Park. I love that painting and wanted to paint another closeup grizzly face.
I used a mix of reference photos for this piece, but the main one came from a photo taken by my friend Serena at the Park. On a recent visit she was showing me photos on her phone, and when I asked if I could use a few, she generously told me to take whatever I wanted.
So, of course, I got greedy and airdropped a couple hundred from her phone to mine while we ate lunch. Serena is an excellent photographer, and she’s had countless opportunities for close-up reference through years of rescuing and raising these animals.
I didn’t even know which bear I’d been working from until I sent her the reference photo yesterday and asked. For those who know the bears at the Park, it was Piper.
As with most of my whimsical wildlife paintings, the final piece isn’t often recognizable as the reference model, especially since I pull from multiple images and sometimes multiple animals.
When people ask which of my paintings is my favourite, the honest answer is that it changes and I can’t pick just one. Each teaches me something new and that’s what makes them special to me. What I got from this one was that, when I need to remember why I do this for a living, paint a grizzly bear. Because that’s my happy place.
For the record, if you encounter a grizzly bear in the wild, don’t get this close, and seriously, don’t boop its nose.
Cheers,
Patrick
