Karstad Biodiversity Paintings: adventures in the colour of Canada

The morning of Monday, 18 February  found us revved up and preparing to work, when Bentley the Cat was sighted through the living room window, head held high, half-obscured by the feathers of a Ruffed Grouse,  Bonasa umbellus , as he strode through the 5 cm of new snow. We try to let Bentley out only when there's minimal chance of his acting as a subsidized predator, and Fred was sure this was proof that he should never be let out of the house

Yes, it was a great photo! This beloved little dog named Shaila has been gone for a while now, and is much missed by her people. I enjoy doing commissions of pets. It is thrilling when people recognize their four-footed friends in my paintings. This one was done on a dark brown underpainting, and I decided to retain the rich darkness for the background, even though the original photo was taken of the dog against a white kitchen floor. The lighting came from two sides - bright and warm from the left and cooler and a little more subdued from the right - couldn't have posed her better in a studio!

28 July finds me finishing a commission, the re-mastering of my Rooster painting of July 2010, and has us thinking about popular subjects. Why are they so compelling to art buyers? Why do I seldom choose to paint a popular subject? As a young teen I was already headed in this direction. I can remember stating to my family that the three things I was least interested in were