Painting animals provides Thiel with a fun, hands-on approach to capturing the animals’ essence.

It is clear that Linda Thiel enjoys painting  pictures of animals.  “Painting them is pure joy” she says.  She begins by meeting with and spending time with each animal before begining the painting, it is essential to convey their personality in the finished piece.

The eyes are the most essential element be it human or animal.  Thiel says knowing the animal, looking into it’s eyes gives her a sense of the animals’ character and personality.

After spending time together, the photo shoot begins.  Taking dozens of photos of the animal gives Thiel visual resources to take to her drawing board.  During the photo shoot, Thiel’s attention is not only on capturing the animal’s personality, but also on anatomy, lighting, gestures, facial and physical expressions.

Once satisfied she has enough information to work with, Thiel returns to her studio to begin the process.  Preliminary sketches result in a final drawing where composition, expression and emotion are resolved.  From that drawing the watercolor is born.  Working with watercolors, the process is fast, spontaneous, and conveys the spirit of the animal.