Artist Research: Bev Doolittle

Bev Doolittle

             I was first introduced to this artist when I was explaining my AP art concentration idea to my mom. She said I should look up Bev Doolittle and see if I can get some inspiration from her artwork since her work was similar in that she painted animals. In addition, when I researched her, I found out she was an art director at an ad agency which is the direction I want to pursue.    She grew up in California and graduated from the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles in 1968 and worked professionally ever since with her husband, Jay Doolittle.  

  She and her husband traveled around the country painting nature and landscapes. Native Americans playing a major role in her artwork as well as camouflaging the animals into the nature. Some words that are associated with her work would include: nature, native American, camouflage, earth, dirt, trees, mountains, wildlife, snow, wild, Spanish, travel, west, birds, horses, freedom, fighting, mystery, wolf, dead, dry, white, black, contrast, hidden, and searching. All these words can be seen in her artwork because she was fascinated with nature and the wild.

                               

                                                                                 Sacred Ground

Two Indian Horses

4)     



She was creating realistic paintings of the west along with many other artists late in the 1900s. But unlike the others, her preferred medium was watercolor while most others used oil paints. She helped bring watercolor realism into the spectrum with paintings such as Pintos and Season of the Eagle

Pintos

Season of the Eagle

      In these paintings, she camouflaged the animals into their natural habitat. Although many others did do realism painting, she was the first to incorporate blending the animals into their surroundings. Her reason for painting animals and landscapes was because she loved the beauty of nature and wanted to capture it in her artwork.

Hide and Seek

Woodland Encounter

Many museums, galleries, websites, and professionals have praised and displayed her work throughout the years. Some of these include Kemper Galleries, the president of the Greenwich Workshop, Wenaha Gallery, and MutualArt.com. Like all other traditional artists, her work began as physical paintings only duplicated through making canvas copies but as she grew more popular, websites began to display her work and more of the public was able to enjoy and buy her paintings.  When it comes to analyzing why she painted nature, the only conclusion can be that she loved it so much she wanted to capture it and make a sort of tribute to nature’s natural beauty. She never tried to establish a statement in her work, only attempted to paint what was already there and add some personal touches to it. People loved this about her work because she successfully recreated the danger and solemn characteristics of nature.    It is evident people liked her work because she sold hundreds and even thousands of copies of her work.

 Doubled Back

Fox Haven

	After researching about Bev Doolittle, I’v decided I’d like to try and camouflage animals I paint into their surroundings using patterns, textures, and colors they share in common.

 

Work Cited

Angelsmist, . "Bev Doolittle." oocities.org. N.p.. Web. 28 Oct 2012. <http://www.oocities.org/moondarlin/artdoolittle2.html>.

"Bev Doolittle." riverwindgallery.com. Yahoo. Web. 28 Oct 2012. <http://www.riverwindgallery.com/DOOLITTLE/biography doolittle.htm>.

"Bev DoolittleArtist Biography." print.com. Print.com. Web. 28 Oct 2012. <http://www.prints.com/art.php/Bev_Doolittle/?artist_id=1&type=6>.

Edberg, Professor Jane. "Painting." Gavilan.edu. N.p., 23 2007. Web. 28 Oct 2012. <http://hhh.gavilan.edu/jedberg/5.html>.