Trout Painting On A Burl Of Palm Wood

  This past fall the family and I took our usual camping trip to the South Carolina coast.  Besides collecting the assortment of fun memories and photos, I collected a few drift wood pieces of knotty Palm wood.  "What are you going to do with those" my wife asked - my answer 'I have no idea'.

  Well this morning I found a purpose for at least one of those knotty burls.  I cut it in half and using the beautifully smooth inside of the burl I used some paint and painted up a head of a rainbow trout.  I had never attempted this before but figuring that it cant be to much different than painting on paper, I gave it a go.
   First I found the obvious place to place the head and sketched out a trout.  I didn't want the whole piece of wood to be covered with paint so I stopped at the tail end of the gill plate.

    Next step was use the paint to do what I do and paint up the trout.  I used acrylic for this because that is the best medium for this kind of project.  I have never really used Acrylic in  painting and am very new to the process.  It is quite a bit different than my usual watercolors and it take some getting use to but with time I worked it out.
    After I painted it up and added the spots and highlights, I then coated the whole project with a clear coat of gloss.  The picture may not show the true beauty of this piece but in the end I believed that I achieved what I set out to do.  I honestly have no idea what I am going to do with it (as with most of my paintings that are in the studio) but it made a nice shelf piece and I think that's where it will end up; right above my tying desk until it finds a new home.

    And finally as a reminder, if you have not entered to win one of the three prizes listed in my previous post then I suggest you head over and fill out a comment and share the post for your chance to win.  Many of you have already done so and I thank you.
1st Prize