My latest sketch: mostly soft charcoal, some graphite. The original photo was taken by Edward Curtis – and yes, she is smiling!

Click for larger view

See also: Edward Curtis and Smiling Indians

(Click for larger view)

JESSICA CRABTREE NATIVE AMERICAN PORTRAITS & WILDLIFE: Mexican Wolf

Ok, NOW it’s done. I’ll be posting a photo of the finished framed painting shortly. For now you can see it up on my Gallery.

I saved the finest details for last, for instance you’ll notice a few whiskers and claws (plus the sparkle in the eye), but no major changes.

As far as the background and rock setting, I randomly blended some dark greens, blues, and browns into the black suede to give indication of a natural setting; nothing distracting. The rocky ground was also straightforward; I used some of the browns from my wolf’s palette (Nupastels 313 and 283) and the side of a black chalk to block in some craggy textures – no underpainting here, I wanted to keep the texture rough.

Last of all I’ve added my signature using my trusty Pilot marker (for more on this check out my Artist’s Tip Bag post How to Sign a Pastel on Suede Painting).

Not much to add since the last time I worked on it – the further along the picture gets, the slower the going is, because most of the time is spent working in finer detail. You can see from looking at the last shot that I’ve roughed in the rocks and an indication of a backdrop, and added some finer detail to the fur around the head and shoulders.

I find that a lot of time in this stage is spent stepping back and looking at the overall picture (especially in the mirror), making last-minute adjustments and a few touch ups here and there. (A word on finishing…)

See the project from the beginning with the following posts:

Sneak Peek: Mexican Wolf – Day 1
Painting a Wolf in Pastels, Part 2

Coming up next: the last installment (finally finished!)

Incidentally, there is an oil painting by Joseph Henry Sharp of a Shoshone of that name, leaving many to speculate whether it is actually the same individual. The painting dates to a period when the young Rabbit Tail would have been a middle-aged man. Based on the comparison, I see some similarities, maybe even enough to make the two relatives, but I’m not convinced they’re one and the same.

JESSICA CRABTREE NATIVE AMERICAN PORTRAITS & WILDLIFE: Shoshone

Shoshone, 14×24 original pastel on suede. (click for larger view)

About the Shoshone

The Shoshone people were originally part of a very large extended family of nomadic peoples in what is today the American West. Their traditional territories centered in the arid Great Basin region, where they migrated seasonally hunting wild game and harvesting wild foods. Each of their main bands identified themselves after the staple food they followed.

Migratory bands of Shoshone were among the first Native Americans encountered by European fur traders and adventurers who ventured West in the early 1800s. Perhaps the most famous Shoshone individual of all is Sacagawea, the young woman who worked as a guide and translator for the Lewis & Clark expedition in 1804-1806.

My latest pastel is about halfway finished. Next I’ll be working on the armbands and hands, and finishing his leather vest. After that, some detail work and a few finishing touches and I’ll consider it done.

A quick trick I learned for imitating metallic objects, like the silver-studded border on his vest:
use a plain white colored pencil.

Colored pencils are terrible on suede, but they come in very handy for this one purpose. I use them wherever I need to indicate points of light or very small areas of brilliant white. It’s so much easier than trying to achieve this with chalks. The best part is that the combination of textures works very well – the pencil won’t smear on the suede, so I can cover it with chalk and it still shows up well. Besides, I like the effect.

More to come…

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Acoma, 18×24 pastel on suede matboard.
The original photo was taken in 1905 by Edward Curtis.

JESSICA CRABTREE NATIVE AMERICAN PORTRAITS & WILDLIFE: Acoma

About the Acoma

The Acoma people, who call themselves “Haaku,” are one of nearly two dozen Pueblo communities in northern New Mexico. Their pueblo, known as “Sky City,” is built on top of a mesa where for centuries the only access was a single staircase carved by hand out of the sheer sandstone walls. Thanks in part to this defensive position, Acoma is possibly the oldest continuously inhabited constructed settlement in North America.

From its remote perch on the steep white plateau, the Acoma pueblo has witnessed the rise and fall of the Aztec and Maya empires (its trading partners in ancient times), the incursions of Spanish conquistadors, and the American conquest of the Southwest. Today, the Acoma still live in their ancestral fortress, where they continue to practice traditional arts, ceremonies, and farming.

More on Acoma history:

Acoma Sky City

Pueblo of Acoma

(Click to enlarge)

My reference photo was from the Fish and Wildlife Service database (which are all public domain). I used mostly Nupastel chalks for the fur and birch trees, and a white pencil for the accent hairs, whiskers, and other fine details. You can click one of the tags below to see the step-by-step photos of this project.

See more of my wildlife portraits and pastel paintings here.

JESSICA CRABTREE NATIVE AMERICAN PORTRAITS & WILDLIFE: Zuni

Now I can add the signature and it will be ready for my Gallery. You can see the painting in various stages by clicking the “Latest” tag below, or “Sneak Peek” on the menu.

This portrait is based on a 1903 photograph from the Edward Curtis collection. A huge portion of this work is dedicated to images of the Southwest, particularly the Pueblo regions where this man is from.

One of the most interesting features of this picture, I think, is the fairly inconspicuous heishi necklace he is wearing. Heishi is a Pueblo word meaning “shell jewelry” which refers to a type of jewelry manufactured only by the Pueblo Indians. It is possibly the oldest form of jewelry in the Americas, and examples of this ancient art form dating back as far as 8,000 years have been unearthed throughout the ancestral Pueblo homelands in the Four Corners area.

(Click to enlarge)

Heishi making is an extremely fine and painstaking craft that involves the grinding, piercing, and threading of tiny pieces of shell and semi-precious stones into uniformly shaped beads. The materials best suited to heishi jewelry were usually imported via trade network from the Pacific and Gulf Coasts, and sometimes from as far away as South America. A single necklace composed of several strands could contain thousands of beads. Pueblo craftsmen still produce these exquisite necklaces today.

The Collector’s Guide – New Mexico Native Arts: Heishi Jewelry

Almost done with my portrait Zuni. I need to touch up a few areas on the face and the headscarf, then complete his shoulders & heishi necklace.

I used mostly Nupastels for the flesh and hair, since they are smaller and firmer and work well in small spaces. For the base coat and highlights I use my Sennelier soft pastels because they blend so smoothly. To make the reflection appear glossy, I rub a little of a pale pink soft pastel on top of the base coat, then apply a light layer from a darker Nupastel; this prevents a dull chalky look. I love the deep furrowed wrinkles in this expressive face; to achieve realism I have used the shadow color directly against the highlight tone, so the strong contrast draws the eye and creates depth.

Click the “latest” or “sneak peek” tags below to see the step-by-step photos of the portrait.

Where I stand on my latest portrait, Zuni, 14×14 pastel on suede.

The portrait is based on a 1906 photograph by Edward Curtis entitled “Tsahizn Tseh.”

JESSICA CRABTREE NATIVE AMERICAN PORTRAITS & WILDLIFE: Apache

The Apache people, along with their close relatives the Navajo, call themselves “Dine,” meaning “the people.” These nations are part of an extended group of closely related nations and bands who once inhabited large areas of the Western Plains. When they reached the deserts of the Southwest in the 1500s, the Navajo gradually adopted a farming lifestyle similar to the region’s Pueblo peoples, while the Apache continued their traditional nomadic ways. Their fierce independence and their incredible knowledge of desert survival have made them legendary.

JESSICA CRABTREE NATIVE AMERICAN PORTRAITS & WILDLIFE: Crow

The traditional name used by the people of the Crow nation is “Apsaalooke” meaning “people of the great bird” or eagle. Through mistranslation, however, the name of this bird has come down to us as “crow” instead.

The Crow were an integral part of the quintessential Plains Indian culture. Their homeland includes the Yellowstone Valley in what is today Montana and Wyoming. After the arrival of the horse to the region in the early 1700s, the Crow adopted a nomadic lifestyle, following migrating bison and other game through large swaths of the Northern Plains. They maintained trade networks reaching as far as the Pacific.

The Crow were renowned for their prowess in battle against other Plains Indians such as the Lakota. In a practice known as counting coup, a warrior gained prestige by sparing the life of a defeated opponent. During the westward expansion of the United States in the 1800s, many Crow – including the one portrayed in this painting – served as scouts for the U.S. Army in campaigns against their traditional enemies.

Lummi, 16×20

JESSICA CRABTREE NATIVE AMERICAN PORTRAITS & WILDLIFE: Lummi

The Lummi nation is part of the Salish family of peoples of what is today Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia, where they have lived for millennia as hunter-gatherers. Lummi people are renowned fishermen and have developed many ingenious and efficient methods for catching salmon, their staple food. Using the raw materials abundant in the coastal forests of the Pacific Northwest they are also expert woodcarvers and basketweavers.

Their society traditionally revolved around small autonomous communities where extended families lived in longhouses constructed from native red cedar. Communities were tightly knit and often gathered to share goods and ceremonies in the legendary festivals known as potlachs – a custom which has continued even to this day.

Here’s a preview of one of my latest projects – Lummi, 16×20. More coming soon!