The Narrative Painting “Forest Shepherd,” Concept to Completion

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Erin Schulz shares her journey behind a captivating narrative painting of a strong-willed boy and a grizzly bear. Follow Erin’s creative process from concept and sketches to a vibrant storytelling piece of art.

My Step-by-Step Process for Painting “Forest Shepherd”

By Erin Schulz

“Forest Shepherd” was inspired by both the fearless nature of the kids on Vashon Island and my fascination with bears. Hiking the trails among the island’s iconic Pacific Northwest landscapes you will undoubtedly encounter kids engaging in adventurous, bold, and creative forest play. I imagine and depict the kids’ delight in a bear encounter, their alpha response, and the bear’s confident indifference.

Concept & Sketch

I start with the concept. In this case, I wanted to do a painting of a strong-willed kid and an animal that awes me – the grizzly bear. I hoped to capture the king-of-the-mountain mentality and big-boy energy or big boy-energy in the forest. There is a lot of this energy on our small, rural island of Vashon on Puget Sound, which I had the pleasure of experiencing in the midst of hanging with our son’s friends.

portrait sketch
My figures are typically a combination of family and friends. I used my son as an anatomical model and his friend Finn as the character model.
Bear study for contemporary realism art
I started with sketches and painting some smaller studies of bears.

Nail the Expression

In narrative pieces like these, the human expression drives the story. This is where I start painting.

The underpainting
The underpainting

I also establish the general composition and characteristics of the supporting elements in the painting such as: northwest landscape, vintage clothing, boy elevated on rock, boy staking claim, bear semi-interested (in my experience, it takes a lot to impress a Grizzly bear).

Develop the Story

I continue to develop the figure with other elements, but with the figure as my focus. I return to charcoal sketching and small studies as need for these other elements.

contemporary realism figurative art
Adding clothes to the figure

Once the figure is established, I incorporate color references in background.

Adding color to the portrait in the narrative painting
Adding color to the portrait in the narrative painting

I then continue to develop the rest of the story.

Erin Schulz, "Forest Shepherd," 45.5 x 57.5O in., oil on Aluminum Panel, Available through Catalyst Fine Art
Erin Schulz, “Forest Shepherd,” 45.5 x 57.5 in., oil on Aluminum Panel, Available through Catalyst Fine Art

Connect with Erin Schulz at www.erinlschulz.com.

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2 COMMENTS

  1. Beautiful paintings . I was very inspired by your process. The background of the roses painting is also very lovely.
    I was inspired some time ago of a tapestry that my father did, when he retired, of a boy sitting on a rock with a collie dog next to him. Sorry cant remember the name. I think the tapestry title in English is .. faithful friend…

    I did two portrait paintings of my grandsons , one with the male dog and the other with the female dog.
    they worked out quite nice.

    Yours sincerely
    Moira Burne
    Australia

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