Georgia on My Mind – Ode to Georgia O’Keefe

Cattle skulls are an icon of the American West. I enjoy the colored pencil medium to portray my surrealistic images. This piece is a tribute to one of my favorite artists, Georgia O’Keefe. She was one of the first American Western surrealists who used animal skull imagery in her work.

Prismacolor pencil is a medium that takes a lot of time to build up color with. This piece took me over 40 hours to finish. I had a cow skull on my wall that I used as my model to achieve a realistic representation of it. The rose and the clouds as well as the composition came from my imagination. One of the inspirations for imagery in my early years as an artist were surrealistic artists like Salvador Dali, Rene Magritte and Georgia O’Keefe. I moved to Arizona as a young man and discovered the unique light and color of the area. I have been fascinated by it ever since. I still live in the desert and understand how Georgia O’Keefe’s use of the Southwest’s colors and light in her work made it so unique. So, here’s to you Ms. O’Keefe- I hope the spirit of your originality and creative spirit that I tried to exemplify in this piece shines through.

Drawing Name: Georgia on My Mind – Ode to Georgia O’Keefe

Medium: Prismacolor Pencil on Arches paper

Size of original work:  20” x 28”

Original piece is in my personal collection. Original not for sale.

Genre: Western Lifestyle, Surrealism

Reproduction sizes available: 16” x 20” on watercolor paper, canvas and metal