Favorite Outdoor Artists

[Weed Shark]

We have threads for media personalities, and writers. Who are your favorite artists?

For sporting artists (fishing and hunting); Les Kouba was one.

Wildlife artists who paint animals mostly; I like Bob Kuhn (painterly), and Robert Bateman (more realistic).

For landscapes; Richard Schmid is hard to beat.

Dogs; Robert Abbett (also good fly fishing art).

Watercolors?...Fish artists?...Historic figures?(Ogden Pleissner,Francis Lee Jaques, Frank Stick)...Specific paintings?(I liked Andrew Wyeth's "Last Night," a deer head eating apples off the ground)...What do you want to mention?

[Scott M]

Jan Finger, Larry Tople, Les Kouba, Terry Redlin, Virgil Beck, Scot Storm, Al Agnew, Mark Sussino, I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting. Anyone that has won a stamp competition in MN sure isn't too shabby.

[jigginjerk]

I'll second Kouba,and David Maass is one heck of a wildlife artist!

[fisherking01]

I was fortunate enough to have met and known Les Kouba for the last 15 years as he matured, and passed. What a great man with a great respect for the wildlife he painted. He is by far my favorite, as he was so versatile in his works. From farms, fields, lakes, the sky and under the water, he covered it all. His darkhouse series is my favorite.

When I met Les, I was really into bow hunting, my favorite print is remarked with a bow, deer tracks, and "to Brent.. Good Hunting, Les"

I also like John House, as his prints are very good. With the Turkey stamp, he has the grand slam for MN. Pheasant, duck, trout, turkey. It also helps that I've known him for 30 years.

Lots of great talent out there. Many reasons to have favorites! Brent

[gspman]

Robert Abbett

Eldridge Hardie

Winston Churhcill - one of the all-time great gun engravers

[ERdeerhunter]

I collect Michael Sieve. I especially love his "Survival Series" of whitetail deer.

My parents collect Jim Hansel. Both Sieve and Hansel are Minnesota artists.

[Random guy]

Gary Moss, I have his "Last of the season-Goldeneye" print. Everytime I look at it I swear I'm sitting on a frozen river bank and the Goldeneyes snuck up on me.

..and you can't go wrong with Les Kouba.

[Harmonica Bear]

Eldridge Hardie by far, for me personally anyway. His dog stuff is awesome.

There's some Kouba stuff I like. I always thoght the darhouse/spear fishing one (looking down the hole) was great.

I also like Don Ray for saltwater fish.

Redlin I am no fan of at all.

[Daze Off]

It's all a matter of personal taste - I love stuff by Al Agnew and struggle to see how anyone likes Kouba....beauty is in the eye of the beholder and let it go at that...

Daze Off

[Northsider #13]

Van Guilder!

[Shack]

Jim Kasper is my personal fav..

[Walleye Guy]

Kouba, Redlin & Van Gilder.

[dogs]

Robert Bateman, Philip Crowe's pencil scetches in "Training Retrievers to Handle" and Old Man and the Pup. Tom Quinn's water colors. And here is one I would have like to have access to his work a local; Les Anderson Jr.

[oil painter]

As an artist myself thought I mite as well way in, Harry C.Adamson for stunning waterfowl paintings, Cylde Aspevig for Landscapes {Living} Pedar Mork Monstad {dead} Mark Sussino For most fish, David Miller for Tremendous Pike paintings.Francis Lee Jacques for best Minnesota Artist allround.Check out Bell Museum Dia-ramas. Bruno Ljeflors is grwat as well!! These are the Painters whose work I strive to equal, Probably never will!! Oh have to add Winslow Homer for great fishing paintings as well.My Avatar is an example of one of my works. Notice I didnt include the more well known artists, They made or make a great living but to compare them to these guys is like Apples to Oranges in my opinion!I tend to like the Painters not Feather counters.Not that there is anything wrong with that it is just not what I like. A good local guy is Wayne Mieneke For landscape and some wildlife work as well.There are many good painters in this state try and support them if you can!

[stick]

Eric Bjorlin is great for his ice fishing scenes.

[Weed Shark]

Quote: "I tend to like the Painters, not the feather counters."

I like "feather counters," although "realists" sounds better and they are painters, too. I like any technique (semi-abstracts, impressionism, relief prints), but it has to be done well.

For me, if there is a problem, it is not the style, but the lack of talent. I think, realism can capture the particularities of nature in ways impressionism (and other styles) cannot. The "Mona Lisa" would not be the same if painted by Claude Monet.

I also look at what the artist is trying to say and how well they said it. I'm thinking of a realistic Norman Rockwell painting: Young kid with a big trunk, going to college, looking away down the road. He's sitting next to an old farmer, his dad, with weathered hands...the painting speaks volumes.

It is always viewer preference. A New York art critic might tell you skyscraper paintings are where it is at, and for them that may be true. Here on FM, I'm just guessin' the "outdoorsy" art resonates well.

[caseymcq]

R.J. McDonald, Richard Clifton and Hayden Lambson

[ib_jigged]

Espe, I think his name is Marv. He has done lots of paintings of scenes in Northern MN, in the Beltrami Island State forest. I have two of his, the Penturen Church and the Winner Silo. I grew up grouse hunting these areas.

[slick814]

I like Larry Tople... I have been going through some old In-Fisherman mags lately, and the cover art that he has done is incredible!

[Weed Shark]

Quote:

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Eric Bjorlin is great for his ice fishing scenes.

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Aww shucks ....thanks "Stick," you're too kind.

Oil Painter,

I hadn't heard of David Miller, so I did a search, cool stuff, looks like he's English.

I second your concept of checking out Jaques art at the Bell Museum. I think they're working on a museum of his work in Aitkin?

Bruno Liljefors inspired alot of artists.

One of my favorites is Mark Sussino's "On the Figure Eight-Muskie."

If anyone likes Lake Superior, check out Howard Sivertson. He grew up on Isle Royale in a commercial fishing village. He has some interesting art and books.

[marine_man]

Wow.. the one and only Eric Bjorlin, a member of FM.. pretty cool!

Eric - any new ice fishing pictures coming out anytime soon?

marine_man

[CornPirateKiller]

Les Kouba is by far my favorite. His work often contains a bit of humor or whimsy. I had the honor of meeting him several times and he remarqued one of my favorite prints, "Coot Migration", for me. My other favorite is the Lutefisk Unlimited stamp print. It makes me smile every time I look at it. He designed artwork for many commercial products too, like the Holiday shotgun shell boxes. Did you know that he designed and created the Coca Cola label? A great man.

I am also partial to the great Western artists, Frederic Remington and Charles Russell. They produced some great western wildlife art.

[Weed Shark]

Quote:

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Eric - any new ice fishing pictures coming out anytime soon?

marine_man

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Marine Man,

I get asked that alot, so I know I need to. Unfortunatley, it may not happen right away.

Crazy stuff going on in the art world. My publisher has a new owner. The old owners sold off The Wooden Bird stores branch of their business to their president, to help sell the publishing portion. That president has since closed-up shop; so The Wooden Bird galleries are history. I haven't done much with the new publisher, we don't always see eye to eye. We're talking about a good size project though, not sure if it would involve ice fishing yet.

Right now I'm looking at some commissions and working with some of the conservation groups. Just finished a Ruffed Grouse painting, putting the scans on the website today.

My most developed sketches right now are open water. I have some ice fishing sketches around, and ideas that have swirled around the back of my mind a long time.

Gotta love FM!

[stick]

My earlier post was an understatement, and I am a HUGE fan of the ice-fishing scenes. I have had people ask me "where'd you take that picture". When I told them it was a print they were dumbstruck. When I get lost in the print, I can hear the coleman lantern hissing. Thanks for the work you do.

[marine_man]

Open water is good to.. I really like the "Quality Time" print... I might have to look at getting one of those sometime in the future.

Keep up the good work!

marine_man

[Weed Shark]

Quote:

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Open water is good to.. I really like the "Quality Time" print...

marine_man

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Marine Man,

"Quality Time" is based on a lake in northern Ontario I've been to with the guys. Soon I'll be taking the whole family there. The kids are pumped; so am I. (If you look closely at the image, the kids lighted bobber is under)

I should mention my last ice fishing painting was "Change of Seasons," part of the "Dad and I" series.

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Now about Kouba, I heard he also invented a device called the "Art-O- Graph," used to enlarge/reduce images such as drawings and reference materials. I guess he made a lot of money on it. It saved many illustrators a great deal of time, but also can be a crutch for art students.

I read somewhere his family was developing brands of Kouba pancake mix, chocolates, and so on. I have not seen any products in stores though.

***

Terry Redlin was an admired art director for West Peblishing before he was a wildlife artist. One old art friend did an illustration for Terry; the view of a pitch, through a catchers mask. Obviously not what Terry was expecting. He quietly thought about it, eventually deciding it would work just fine. Very few art directors, or people, are that open-minded.