Wild donkeys, or burros, are a remarkable sight to see in their natural habitat. Sometimes aloof and distant, these creatures are one to marvel at. My husband, my parents, and I were fortunate to have the pleasure of 2 wonderful burros come up near us and say hello. We kept our distance and they stared at us with such curiosity. We did not move and then they began to frolic and play around in the desert. They were having fun running and bounding about. When they were finished, they turned around and ran back into the wilderness of the vast desert. We began to hike again full of smiles and a new conversation was sparked. It is very important to remember we are visitors in the wild and to respect all creatures’ natural habitats. I was lucky to get a photograph of the burros when they stopped for a moment as I stood still. I hope you have the pleasure one day of seeing a burro in the wild. Here is a painting I created from the photograph I took.
I focused on the shadows in the face and the subtle light of the sun touching the hairs in the darkness. I loved painting the light side of the face and trying to convey the coolness of the day. Both warm and cool colors were used to replicate the feelings of the day. The sun was out and warming us while the cool chill was at 50 degrees so we were wearing hats and jackets. Sunglasses were a must as well due to the brightness of the afternoon. I tried to show the contrast of the weather in the color choices of the fur. Purples, browns, yellows, whites, blues, and greens were used for the decisions of hues. I also used a lot of white and cream to build light textures. The background went through many changes and I finally settled on a loose technique to make the burro more prominent. I wanted to show the sand and plants of the desert in a simple way with less detail. A touch of color to let the viewers imagination of cacti wander. This is an original acrylic painting and it is available on my website. It is also ON SALE until June 17th if anyone is interested. Thank you for reading!
-Karen Hilliard