Roping a Grizzly 1903

Charles M. Russell made this watercolour painting of cowboys roping a grizzly bear sometime at the beginning of the twentieth century. I love the way he's used watercolour here, it’s so washy and loose! It feels like he’s making it up as he goes along, as though he is really IN the moment, following the movement and commotion of the scene. Look at how he’s used the white of the paper to suggest the bleached light of the open range; the thin washes of colour evoke the sparseness and dry heat of the American West. The marks are so free and casual, capturing the dust and flurry of the chase. See how the bear is all thick impasto and dark shadow, whereas the sky and mountains are barely there, just an indication of blue and lavender. This reminds me of some of Winslow Homer’s seascapes, the way he conjures a whole world with a few deft strokes. Like Homer, Russell understands that painting is not just about representation, but about feeling, atmosphere, and movement. And that is something worth chasing.