I can feel the coolness of this scene with ease, for I've been to North Dakota in February, [laughs] and I don't have much fur!

[piano plays; bright in tone] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ We have something a little different for you.

Something a little different.

We've been previously painting from pochades, now we're going to paint and we have the original already done.

I want you to look at the original.

A beautiful bison, in February, in the snow, and they absolutely love it, and they're prepared for it.

Snow is beautiful when you're prepared for it, so I'm prepared for it and I hope you're prepared to watch it.

It's going to be a 3-part series.

We're going to do acrylics, then we're going to go with oils, then we're going to go with refinement.

each case, after the acrylics are done, of course they dry quickly, then next week we'll do with oils.

That will allow a week to dry, so the following week when we put on the final little touches, then you can see how it look at its best.

The other nice thing, I really enjoy this, you have the original right there.

It's a double-edged sword.

It's great because I can see it and look at it.

I also need to make sure that it comes up to the standards of the original.

That's where I expect you to help me and just kinda say, "yeah, your alright."

They have those instant polls that say, how many think Buck's doing alright?

Check here.

How many say he needs a little more help?

Check here.

Don't quite have that instant poll, but you just raise your hand at home, ok?

Let's go ahead and start the painting.

This is Thalo Blue and white, with a touch of Payne's Gray with it.

Very nice value to work on.

In this case, a lot of this will be felt in the finished painting, because it's the snow and the snow season, and so on.

You could use a different color.

I could have used pink, then blue over that looks good.

There's different ways of painting.

We're going to do quite a lot of this beginning with acrylics, of course, but with Ultramarine Blue.

I'll come down to the palette.

This is my Ultramarine Blue.

I will use a lot of water to make sure that it flows freely for me.

I'm going to have one other brush in my hand as I do this too.

This is a small round brush, so you jump into the pool too.

Then we'll see what happens.

When I do larger areas I can use this brush, and when I talk about detail we'll go with the smaller brush.

This has had a tracing put on, which will be on a DVD, so you can download the tracings.

Then I've outlined it with Ultramarine Blue already.

So it's very firm.

If I happen to go over the line, I can still see the lines.

Drawings are so necessary.

This is going to come on that horn.

When I put on that horn, initially I'm just kind of loose with all this, but there are places that I want it to be even darker.

That means just a little less water and a little more pigment.

The thing that I was told by my teacher is that when you're painting a subject, let's just say on this one, you have in mind-- as I'm working up there, I'm actually working on his head.

I can feel the fur!

If you have that in mind, rather than, fill in block 3 or block 4 with these colors.

Feel what you're painting!

That's why I like the animals and people, you feel their spirits.

I'm tapping this on, rather than just filling it in.

Tapping it on, so it's got that matte that you can reach into.

As I came down lower, I will at this point sort of leave a little opening where it is going to represent some highlights.

I'll come later, I'm not sure if now or on the color-- oh, I'm sure!

We'll come with the color.

We'll put a little color that is in there, which will be kind of a reddish color.

The rest of this will be very dark.

I keep dipping down quite often, pick up a little water just to make sure this is the consistency I want.

If you're painting out of doors and painting a rock or something, you might say, that's alright, I didn't quite go over to the edge.

But I need to go very carefully to the edge.

When you're painting a human or and animal, anatomically, correctness is the thing we're shooting for.

That's the objective.

You know, just the subtlest little thing, I don't know if I'll put it in yet or not, but just that little eyelash.

Oh, I like that, the eyelid and eyelash.

Hanging out against some highlight, it puts just a little character on there, without saying much to it.

Because on this one, you won't see that eye, it's on the side.

We do have just a little bit of one over to the right.

This was taken, I had some DVD of these romping through the snow, and apparently they had just been let out that day, into the snow.

They just loved it.

If Hollywood would have done it, they would have had to have 10 different bison to do it, but that guy, he did everything.

We didn't need any rehearsals, we didn't need to say, "cut!

Do it again."

He did great!

Leaving a little bit of light on the surface there, so you get the feeling of form.

I'll come down lower, where I need to have a little light, and I'll just just wipe a little bit there.

If it's dry, which this is, I'll take just a little moisture on the paper towel.

See how I can wipe that?

The other thing is, where I've left an opening, if you just take and wipe a little bit, then it's less sharp where it meets the dark.

Even up on the head.

You almost feel like, "hey, I'll just scratch your head a little bit.

Doesn't that feel good?"

I have these animals, dogs at the current time, were they love and come, want to be scratched and rubbed and so on.

It's so pleasing.

When I'm out here filming, I call home, to California.

I'm going to put the dark in the nostrils.

My wife will put the phone next to the dog's ear, and I talk to it.

It confuses the dog!

It runs all over the house saying, "where's Buck?"

Oh no, that's the chickens.

They go, "Buck, Buck, Buck, Buck!"

So I'm told.

Here you're using the same color, but look how you thin it out and it's not quite the same value.

I'm going to go just a little softer in there, so I'm not leaving it open, but it's a little lighter than there.

As we come down underneath on, I guess would you call that beard?

I don't know all the terms, so if I say something wrong, please accept my attempt.

The way this stands out in the original you can just feel that frosted look on that beard.

Let's come down lower.

We'll hit this one leg.

This takes time, but it's so worth it to watch it happen.

I hope, as I'm doing this, that you're following and realize that you can do it too, but make sure you give it the care and attention it needs.

That's right up front with the drawing.

I have, surprisingly, a great number of artists in my class when I teach workshops.

That's not the surprising thing.

The surprising things is, a lot of them are teachers.

They go out and teach their own paintings, their own students.

Some of them will say, "I don't know how to draw."

I think, "an artist that doesn't know how to draw?

If they don't, there's different ways to help them."

You have opaque projectors, you've got slide projectors, and in this case, you have a tracing.

You don't have to have any reason not to do it, because it's so enjoyable.

But I do practice drawing in the evenings.

I'll practice drawing, I might be watching a ball game, when one of my Boston players hits a home run, I have to recheck the drawing, because it may be off a little bit.

It's so neat to make use of your time that way.

The other thing about it, when you are watching something and doing some drawing, you free up the right side of the brain.

Your logical side is kind of subdued a little bit, and you'd be surprised how well you do.

I think I've said this before, but sometimes I'll call someone on the telephone and talk to them while I'm painting, so that I do free up that right side.

We're coming down on the abdomen, the tummy.

We're showing you many different things, but there's only two ways to paint: my way and the wrong way!

[laughs] That's not true.

There are so many great artists and art out there.

I like going and looking at other art.

It's inspiring, but let me tell you something.

I want tell you the approach that I had and had to be careful of.

I guess I can paint while I'm talking, but I want you to here this.

I'd go down, in Santa Barbara, at the beach they have an art show.

I was a recreation supervisor.

A fellow came in with the idea, but I had to work about setting it up.

That was in 1965!

Before some of you were even born!

1965.

Anyway, I showed at the art show down there probably twice.

Because it was so much easier not to show and set rules.

So they didn't say, oh, Buck, you're just doing it for yourself.

Notice how I'm placing this on.

I've made it a little stronger on the outline.

A little bit on the tail.

But anyway, there were many fine artists down there and some really sold.

Do you know what my thought was?

I thought, oh my gosh!

I can make four of those this week and sell them for $50 apiece!"

That was back in the olden days.

Sell them for $50 apiece!

Oh, that'd be great.

Then I went to an art museum and saw a portrait, an art show, an art show of portraits.

I went in there, and to see a Rembrandt.

Was my thought any different?

Yes.

I want to be able to paint like that.

It was no longer, how quickly can I do it?

How fast?

That's one thing that I have to watch, and you might want to consider too-- what's you're motives in painting a painting?

Is it how quickly you can sell it?

I want to do the best I can.

This is my painting right now.

Maybe someday, somebody will have it in their home.

But because it's in my possession now, I want it to be the very best it can be.

Not only because it carries my name on it, which it will, but it must have that quality, the sincerity of conception.

Even in scrubbing like that, notice how helpful that is towards looking like fur.

It does, I just think this is the way to go.

There was one series, I don't remember which one it was, maybe 400, that we did everything each time with Ultramarine Blue acrylic little washes.

Now we'd do the paintings a little faster, but we'd use that.

I had suggested once, there was a very fine artist, his name was Maxfield Parrish.

Oh, was he good!

I hope that you check up on Websites, or whatever, on him.

He's passed away, an American artist, and he lived in the, I think it must have been the 1900s or was it 2000s?

But anyway, he was so fine.

The landscapes and the whole thing.

Just work to emulate, to study.

Anyway!

He said in his notes that he started paintings with Ultramarine Blue and white.

I even saw, in one of the pages in a book, it showed an unfinished painting of his.

It had been Ultramarine Blue and white, then over here the other half, he'd started putting color on.

But he never was able to finish it.

Apparently he died before he got to it.

It just showed the quality he had in the Ultramarine Blue and white.

If he can use it, and make such good work, then I can certainly find a good reason to use it as well.

I want to just put a little bit more on here, then we'll stop with this guy for a while.

I want to put some highlight on there, but let's go over to his neighbors.

We can go over just a little faster with them.

Now, when I've said that I've been to North Dakota in February, that's absolutely true.

But then you say, "what other experiences have you had with the winters?"

Well, my first 17 years were 50 miles away in Minnesota.

Yes, I know what it's like in February many times.

Then I took my beautiful wife, and we went up to Canada for 3 years.

Love the warmth-- of the people!

Love the warmth of the people.

It was cold, but it was a different type of winter.

You'd have have what they call chinooks that could come through, a wind, from the south I believe it was, and it would turn the temperature 30 degrees higher overnight.

You'd have snow when you go to bed and it would be melted in the morning.

You didn't know whether to wear your swimsuit or your snow trunks.

This is what we want on this guy.

You can see they're not given quite the full detail of him.

I went through the head quite quickly, because we want to have the prima donna on stage.

I have this outline just a little bit as you can see where the dark will come up to that little line.

That's a good way to do it.

If you mark the edge of the boundaries for the darks, the edge of the boundaries for the lights.

Ok, I believe that'll be enough there.

I'm going to go ahead, I will use some more Ultramarine Blue around here, but I think it would be helpful if we worked a little bit further on the big fellow.

Let's see what we'll take.

I have filbert, yes that's Badger filbert.

This Yellow Ochre and white.

Ooo, my goodness Buck, are you sure you want a brush mix?

Ah, yes!

That's about equal parts Yellow Ochre and Cad Yellow, then I've added white to it.

So it's about equal with all of them.

Yes.

This is going to go on the light area of the big bison.

Isn't it coincidental that the university that's here in North Dakota, NDSU-- their emblem, their mascot is a bison!

A buffalo.

Gee, that's right appropriate.

But it's surprising, if you paint this subject you'll be surprised how many people not only will like it, but will say, "Oh, that's good.

It makes me remember such and such."

Because there's people all over.

It's surprising how many people I was teaching seascapes to in Arizona!

Because a lot of people had moved there, or else the shore got a little closer!

We live a block from the ocean, at least the last time I checked, we were.

Here's a light on the-- I don't mean to facetious about that.

That's a great area.

Love those Arizona people.

Love the California people.

"Is there anybody you don't like?"

Nope!

This is right on the rump.

You realize, this is all what we say monochrome.

So we will be having color put on top of this.

You'll like the next stage.

We'll do it in oils.

Then it will dry, then our final stage will also be in oils.

The refinement.

The refinement time.

I'm going to take the same yellow, yellow, and white, and go back on these fellows.

Over on this guy too, just a little bit on those shoulders.

I can still see those guys, going, "oh, gee!"

The time that I was filming them, or that they were being filmed, Wow!

You watch the breath in the winter air.

Oh, it was powerful.

I'm not putting any breath here, because he stopped.

I guess the others are a little farther away, you can't see them.

Let's go now-- I need to put just a little touch in his eye.

Let's do this, let's put just a little touch of the Yellow Ochre, and the yellow and white in the eye.

That'll be right here.

There's just a little nice design right there.

I like that.

I guess that's a tag.

Everybody needs a logo.

Now let's take some of the umber-- excuse me, boy, we sure introduced a new color there.

This is the Ultramarine Blue, and I'm going to make this very watery, because, and I have a fan brush, because I want this to be on very thinly back here.

That's even too dark.

So I'll take a paper towel, I have a paper towel right handy.

As I do this, I'm going up and leaving just a little space where the sky will show, the blue of the sky.

I don't mind if I come down, you say coming close to the bison, you I touch him a little bit.

He's already in that family of colors.

It makes it very easy to come against it and not leave a space there.

Let's come in the front, the front door.

That's quite dark.

Again, no problem, go right across it.

You know what will happen on the finished one?

Look at that.

That strong light separates and makes the head stand out.

We'll do a little bit now, just touching slightly, so we get that indication.

But we certainly can have the colors the same as they go around.

A little bit out here.

It's fun to watch foliage in the wintertime, where it's just very sparsely placed on.

I recall doing this when we did the Red River, in February, I guess it was too.

Yes.

Oh, that was beautiful!

Those winter trees, just a little condensation on them, a little snow or fog or so on.

Let's see.

Do we need any more up here?

Just a little bit.

Let's come with a little bit of a shadow.

I'll tell you what this does.

When I put this on.

This is more than just a cast shadow from this.

It is the feeling that the bison, I guess you could say the bull, is behind a bank there.

It's not standing right flat.

There's just a little knoll there.

Making the dark all the way along certainly does that.

On the back one--let me just blend this, just a little bit.

A little bit more.

I'll come a little bit closer there.

Now on the back one, same idea, but watch the difference.

This one is curved this way, which gives some real support to this.

Then back here, it's put on as grace.

The curve, it just has the nice feeling of grace, which leads in compositionally very fine.

It leads right in to the star performer.

These are supernumeraries Supernumeraries, what a great title, yet it just means somebody in the supporting cast, up in a choir, in an opera something.

It's not the main diva.

I'm going to blend just a little bit across there, just gently.

In the distance we have-- in North Dakota you have the chance to look forever, but just the smallest little trees out here.

That gives you your horizon, so it gives some semblance of bareness, but at the same time it's believable.

You know that they have a large expanse to run around in.

What a great place to play baseball!

Oh, you could hit that ball, it would go far!

Mmm.

[laughs] Guess what we use for the bases?

Anyway, that's your guess.

Alright.

I think this is just about ready to go.

If we take, I'll go through that horn just a little bit.

I want it light, but just a little bit, like that.

I think that'll work.

Sometimes what I like to do, is take just a little bit, this is the Yellow Ochre and yellow and white, and we'll just go right across here, again.

See, just emphasizes it just a little bit more.

I know you'll want to come back next time.

I know you'll want to come back, and I'll be there.

I'll be here!

We'll put color on!

See you then.

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