Illustration
Only Two Polar Bears To Go
Here’s the 23rd Polar Bear Face for December 23rd
Here's polar bear face #23! A sweetheart of a bear for December 23rd! Enjoy your day!
Do you know that all my polar bear portraits are inspired either from photos I have taken of polar bears or are from my imagination. In this case this furry little face is inspired by a photo I took of the email bear, Juno, who was born @thetorontozoo , spent a while at the @assiniboineparkzoo and then returned pre pandemic to the Toronto Zoo again. Learn more about Sweetheart Polar Bear (on special) here
Here is December 9th's Polar Bear Art Advent Calendar
Polar Bear Prayers
Today’s polar bear art is created from Polar Bear Prayers, an original oil painting on a 6” diameter round canvas. To learn more about this painting, please click here.
Why I Use Polar Bears on my Military Helmet Art
An Art Salute to Polar Bears, Service Men & Women
Salute. My polar bear art on my donation to TPL Foundation Annual Gala 2021
Salute
The artwork on the helmet Salute symbolizes the respect, loyalty and responsibility practised
in the military and also the same that is owed to it by the country it serves.
My art practice focuses on the theme of polar bears, their vulnerability from climate change and the Canadian connection to it. The “strong and free” polar bear shares many attributes with the military - bravery, strength, resilience, and tenacity.
In my series of paintings entitled Golder Bear , I often portray a polar bear face set against a metallic gold, halo-like sun. The sun’s rays reach out connecting the viewer to the bear, the sun and the challenge of our warming climate. Gold paint symbolizes the “wealth” and “value” of nature.
Salute is created in the Golden Bear style. But in this artwork the polar bear’s face is framed by a gold maple leaf. Instead of the sun’s rays to connect us, there is a motif of repeating maple leaves, that blends almost camouflage-like. This “Canadian” pattern connects to the back of the helmet, where the golden silhouette of a soldier, looks ahead in salute, to a setting sun skyline of gold maple leafs. The soldier, the country and the polar bear, all to be valued and protected.
Get Ready to Run
Here are a series of polar bear paintings, that viewed together animate an arctic night life moment.
At approximately 12" wide, the polar bear paw width is the same height as the paintings below.
In Paws Pause, (info here) a handsome polar bear pauses on its solitary journey in the arctic night. What does it sense out there in the dark? Its sensitive nose can pick up scents from over a kilometre away. And its round, furry ears hear better than ours. Then….
Paws Pause. First in the series. ©Christine Montague
Our intrepid bear is Thinking (info here)….and….
Thinking. Second in the series. ©Christine Montague
….now, the paws of this powerful, apex predator, with their thick, curved and very sharp 2 inch plus claws, have changed direction. And appear to be heading your way. So...
"Oh, oh"
Oh, Oh. Third in the series. ©Christine Montague
I often use blue in my polar bear art because it is one of the world's most popular colours, and it symbolizes intelligence, nature, royalty, and spirit. Perfect for the intelligent , curious and powerful polar bear, one of the world's most favourite animals.
Each of these original oil paintings is 12”H x 6”W x 1.5”D wood panel. Edges are black. Wired and ready to hang. A Certificate of Authenticity is supplied.
$195 each CAD. includes taxes. BONUS! Free shipping to Canada and USA. Wish to buy all 3? Contact me for additional savings. Please contact me here
What is This Polar Bear Thinking Of? Here's the Latest Advent Calendar Art Special
Everyday from Dec 1- 25th, a new polar bear painting is offered at a special value! (valid until Dec 31, 2020)
Consideration of the Polar Bear King: Polar Bear #22
The handsome, intelligent bear in this painting stands, paws together. It is if he is listening patiently to someone before him & thoughtfully considering what is said. Oh, oh. If it’s a representative of the human race before him, we ‘ve got some explaining to do.
The halo-like gold sun that radiates behind him symbolizes his powerful and royal position as top predator in the arctic.
The gold metallic paint also represents the wealth we have in the nature around us. And like the polar bear, gold is beautiful to most who behold it.
The edges of this acrylic painting on wood panel have been painted in gold.
10” x 8” x .75 " graphite, white, black & metallic gold acrylic paint on wood panel.
The edges of this wood panel are painted gold. Wired and ready to hang.
Special offer until Dec. 31, 2020
Reg. $260 CAD. NOW $130 CAD incl. shipping to Canada + USA
Please contact me
Polar Bear King Moves On. Here's Today's Very Special Offer
Everyday from Dec 1- 25th, a new polar bear painting is offered at a special value! (valid until Dec 31, 2020)
Polar Bear King Moves On
Behind this regal polar bear a metallic gold sun radiates. The halo-like gold sun symbolizes his powerful and royal position as top predator in the arctic.
The Polar Bear King Moves On (Detail). To see the full 10” x 8” panel, please scroll down.
The gold metallic paint also represents the wealth we have in the nature around us. And like the polar bear, gold is beautiful to most who behold it.
The gold also represents the sun, and global warming. The polar bear moves on, ahead of the situation for now.
The edges of this acrylic painting on wood panel have been painted in gold.
Because graphite is used in this work, the painting has been varnished to seal in the line work. The painting is wired and ready for hanging.
10” x 8” x .75 " graphite, white, black & metallic gold acrylic paint on wood panel.
The edges of this wood panel are painted gold. Wired and ready to hang.
Special offer until Dec. 31, 2020
Reg. $260 CAD. NOW $130 CAD incl. shipping to Canada + USA
Please contact me
The Polar Bear King Moves On ©Christine Montague Metallic acrylic paint & graphite on panel. Varnished.
Why the Halo? Advent Calendar Polar Bear # 19 Answers Why
Everyday from Dec 1- 25th, a new polar bear painting is offered at a special value! (valid until Dec 31, 2020)
Sun Halo Cub 2
The gold in this painting symbolizes the richness of our planet and the power of the sun. Halo-like the sun appears behind this cub. Perhaps, we should be regarding our connection to nature as more holy.
The curvy shape behind this little bear represents the ice on which the polar bear is so dependant upon for survival.
And the baby blue? Perhaps it is about innocence, or water.. But maybe I was providing a little sibling for Polar Bear No. 15 (December 15th). :D
The edges of this wood panel are painted gold. My miniature works on panel are designed to stand..
4” x 6” x 1.5 " acrylic paint on wood panel.
The edges of this wood panel are painted gold. It is free standing, perfect for a shelf, or table. Signed & unique work completion number. Certificate of Authenticity is supplied.
Special offer until Dec. 31, 2020
Reg. $195 CAD. NOW $130 CAD incl. shipping to Canada + USA
Please contact me
Why the Halo? Polar Bear No. 15 Polar Bear Art Advent Calendar Dec. 15th
Every day a new polar bear painting is added to the Polar Bear Advent Calendar at special value .
Sun Halo 1
The gold in this painting symbolizes the richness of our planet and the power of the sun. Halo-like the sun appears behind this cub. Perhaps, we should be regarding our connection to nature as more holy.
The curvy shape behind this little bear represents the ice on which the polar bear is so dependant upon for survival.
And the pink? Perhaps it is about innocence. But maybe it is that I like pink, and rarely get to use it in my polar bear art :D
The edges of this wood panel are painted gold. My miniature works on panel are designed to stand..
6” x 4” x 1.5 " wood panel.
Artist signature on the front, unique work completion number on the back. Certificate of Authenticity is supplied.
Special offer until Dec. 31, 2020
$130 CAD incl. shipping in North America Reg, $195 CAD
Shopping in USD? $100 USD includes shipping. (Reg. $150 USD)
Please contact me
Polar Bears, Hedgehogs & The Rubin Vase: Positive & Negative Space in Art
Angry Polar Bear. Colored pencil Illustration by Christine montague. The Sketchbook Project 2014.
Interpreting positive and negative space is one of the compositional skills practised by visual artists when they draw and paint. It is also a handy method to trigger one's imagination either as a drawing exercise, or when illustrating.
What is positive and negative space?
Positive space is the space occupied by the subject. Negative space is the space on the page around it. A classic example of this is the image below, the Rubin Vase -
Rubin's vase. illustration
The positive space is the yellow vase. The negative space is the inverse of this space, i.e. everything outside the vase. In this picture, can you see the two profiled faces in the negative space? This is a well-known example of illusion, thanks to its use of positive and negative space. However, negative space usually does not have another recognizable image.
I had fun with the use of positive and negative space in my colored pencil drawings for this year's The Sketchbook Project.More about my sketchbook entry here.
Using a printout of an image of one of my stone kitchen tiles, I drew a scene on that printout inspired by the shapes and tones I saw there. The Angry Polar Bear (above) is one such illustration. The Infamous Heart-Nosed Hedgehog below, is another of these The Sketchbook Project drawings.
What is the positive space in the drawing below? What is the negative?
The Infamous Heart-Nosed Hedgehog. Coloured pencil illustration copyright Christine Montague. The Sketchbook Project 2014
The Positives (and negatives) of the Polar Bear & The Hedgehog
Surprise! Although you probably guessed it, the same tile image inspired the polar bear and hedgehog drawings. Here they are, together.
Two colored pencil illustrations demonstrating use of positive and negative space. Copyright Christine Montague. The Sketchbook Project 2014
The Infamous Heart-nosed Hedgehog . The positive space is the hedgehog. The negative space, is all the other space. In this case, that space is filled in with clouds.
The Angry Polar Bear. Using another printout of the same tile, I placed my subject, the polar bear, in what was the negative space of the hedgehog illustration. You can see the shape of the hedgehog in the space to the left of the polar bear. So, in this drawing,the positive space is the polar bear.
But wait! There are actually two subjects in this drawing! There is a little figure in a fur-trimmed hooded parka in the bottom left corner. His head is where the hedgehog's eye is in the hedgehog drawing. This little figure is also a positive space (although his actions may be negative. I will leave that up to your imagination!). So the negative space of this image is all the space around them, including the top right corner of the image.
Does this help you to understand positive and negative space?
To see my 2013 The Sketchbook Project (Brooklyn Art Library, Brooklyn, New York) about a polar bear world "CRAM" click here