Early last month, I watched a documentary on Rembrandt van Rijn. Of all the old masters, his work has always drawn me in. The depth of his shadows, the drama of his lighting, and the way his subjects seem to emerge from darkness rather than simply sitting within it. It led me to ask a practical question: how can I bring some of that sensibility into my own wildlife paintings?

From there, my thoughts moved to William-Adolphe Bouguereau. The two seem like an unlikely pairing, with one shadowed and earthbound, the other luminous and highly finished. Yet studying them side by side revealed something important: beneath those differences, they share a disciplined approach to building a painting through layers. That realization sent me deeper, into Turner, into Bierstadt, both of whom used transparent color to create light that feels as though it exists within the painting rather than on its surface.

What surprised me was how rarely this structured, layered approach appears in wildlife painting today. Most contemporary wildlife work leans toward direct painting techniques, which leaves an interesting opportunity: applying classical layering methods to wildlife subjects.

I began experimenting.

For Innocence, I started with drybrush to establish form and background, then returned with glazes. First building atmosphere in the background, then working back into the fawn with thin, transparent layers of color.  One material choice became important: flake white. Titanium white is strong and opaque but can produce a flat or chalky result. Flake white is softer, slightly warmer, and more translucent - used in successive layers, it creates depth and a more natural transition into light.

A few principles clarified as I worked. Separating structure from finish matters enormously, and establishing a clear value foundation before glazing creates a stable framework, closer to how Rembrandt allowed light to emerge convincingly from shadow. Direction matters too: in the background, glazes remain soft and diffused; within the animal, they follow form deliberately. Selectively reintroducing semi-opaque layers afterward by scumbling, brings light forward again. And edges do a great deal of the work, with some dissolving into atmosphere and others held firm to keep the animal present and grounded.

All of this connects with the direction my work has already been taking. I create atmospheric backgrounds that suggest rather than describe, and animals that emerge with presence rather than sitting in front of a scene. These classical techniques give me a more structured way to achieve that effect.

This is will be an evolving process. What I'm working toward is a method that combines anatomical accuracy, atmosphere, and intensity: drawing from the old masters while remaining true to the subjects that inspire me. I'll continue refining in upcoming paintings, reaching not just for how an animal looks, but for how it feels to encounter one.

Thank you for being here and for caring about my work - it's what keeps the studio lights on.

All the best,

Sandra