I am a Canadian wildlife artist who uses graphite, pen and ink and mixed media to create my wildlife art.
I’ve been featuring artists I admire on my new facebook page and I thought it was high time I introduced myself, Laurene Spino, a Canadian wildlife artist working in graphite, pen and ink and occasionally other mixed media.
My journey towards art is a little convoluted but it’s definitely rooted in a deep sense of wonder, fascination, curiosity, love and admiration of the natural world that surrounds us. I was that kid who was perfectly happy laying in the grass watching an ant laboriously work its way up one side of a blade of grass and down the other. I still am.
I thought I would start with some sentimental favourites. These early works are in pen and ink, a medium which I still enjoy.
I intentionally left these wolves unfinished because I wanted the focus to be on those powerful paws. Wolves are wonderful subjects both because they’re such beautiful animals and because of their strong bond to pack members. Their complex behaviour within the pack gives us almost endless ideas for composition.
Working on the bark texture in this next drawing was almost as much fun as working on the feathers! Information on the University of Michigan website states “Red-tailed hawks also communicate through body language. In an aggressive posture, the body and head of a red-tailed hawk are held upright, and its feathers are standing up.”I don’t know if this hawk was displaying true aggression or simply warning an unseen foe, but that proud pose begged to be drawn!
I’d love to blog about technique, composition, natural history or anything else you’d like to discuss. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions about what you’d like to see on this blog, please let me know! I’ll do my best to answer any questions you may have. Please visit my limited edition prints on my reproductions page.