Edward Aldrich
True to nature
Every animal has its own distinct personality—each species with a unique set of characteristics that makes them intriguing and relatable. This is how accomplished oil painter Edward Aldrich views wildlife, and this is what he keeps in mind when setting out to portray their personalities on the canvas.
“It’s kind of like an intimate experience of the animals themselves,” Aldrich says of his new body of work. “These are paintings of the animals close-up, some with very minimal background, so it’s more about the animals themselves rather than their habitat,” he adds. “Birds have an almost quizzical sense about them. Predators have that intensity, they have their eyes locked on you.”
This body of work reflecting the colorful range of animal expressions will be on view at Mountain Trails Gallery in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, from September 5 to 14.
Aldrich’s work achieves a highly realistic effect; the swaths of fur on a contemplative coyote looking into the distance in Coyote Portrait grow in different directions, with light and dark tufts adding depth and texture. To achieve this effect, Aldrich says he uses a
wet-on-wet technique, layering thin coats of oil paint on top of each other using a scripting brush or an old, beat-up brush where the hairs have frayed out. The old brush, which has become tattered with time, creates that wild, natural appearance on the coyote’s fur. “It looks very natural because it’s an echo of the brush itself,” the artist says.
Toward Prey is piercing, with a red-eyed white wolf stalking in icy tundra toward some unknown kill. Aldrich says he’s particularly enjoyed depicting wolves lately and especially revels in the challenge of working with a dominantly white palette. “Although it’s primarily white on white, there are warms and cools within that,” Aldrich explains. Reflected light from every direction plays across the wolf’s coat, creating cool grays and hints of ivory. Painting with one principal color is “a fine line between something looking blah and something that looks electric,” the artist says. It comes down to training your eye to identify differences in tone, temperature and value, he adds.
Aldrich’s exhibition at Mountain Trails Gallery will showcase up to 17 new works.