Daniel Smith, Feature, Art of the West, May/June, 2013

Daniel Smith

Arctic Aura, acrylic, 24˝ by 44˝ “Polar bears have evolved to thrive in the austere, desolate environment. They are true arctic icons, as they are the largest North American predator, weighing up to 1,500 pounds. I recently spent more than a week on Cape Churchill, studying these magnificent bears. We were fortunate to observe more than 100 bears, as they made their way from land to the rapidly forming sea ice on their annual quest to hunt for seal.”

‘No Substitute for Being There’

By Barbara Coyner

L

ast November when Daniel Smith was roughing it at the Tundra Buggy Hotel at Cape Churchill, Canada, he was just doing what comes naturally to a wildlife artist —research. Some of his companions on the Arctic excursion were professional polar bear researchers, so Smith had the benefit of scientific knowledge as he observed the bears up close and personal. Having traveled to Africa seven times, as well as journeying to Alaska on several occasions, Smith knows there is no substitute for those in-person treks to keep him fresh in his painting. He’s already scheming to get to Svalbard, Norway to see polar bears in a different setting.

ART of the WEST • May/June 2013

“When I go to Africa, it is really adventurous, but this habitat was totally different,” he says of the tundra outing. “It’s windy and flat, and towing the hotel out and assembling it was pretty wild. The ground crew had a lot of problems—flat tires, that sort of thing—as they assembled 50 tons of sleeping cars, water tanks and all the rest of the gear.

“It was pretty deluxe,” Smith says, explaining that everyone on the excursion was supplied with a Canada goose down coat to ensure they were all dressed well for the harsh climate. All the logistics certainly offered Smith and the other 30 travelers a real window on polar bears and their behavior in the wild.

“They are really curious,” he says,

relating how close the bears came to the tundra buggies. “They are so big and so amazing.” Always a stickler for details, Smith observed both the setting and the inhabitants, but reserved much of his wonder for the experience of riding around in a tundra buggy, miles from civilization.

If there is anything the Cape Churchill trip reveals about Smith, it is his fixation on getting out where the animals are. Living in rural Montana, he is no stranger to native wildlife such as deer, elk, moose, and bears. In fact, he once actually had a hungry bear break into his home.

As he and his wife Liz hike the woods near Bozeman, Smith finds plenty of subject matter to paint, yet he’s not timid about venturing even

Heavy Hitters, acrylic, 30˝ by 48˝ “The annual summer bison rut in Yellowstone Park is the best time to observe aggressive behaviors. The bulls exhibit a diverse variety of formidable antics that keep my adrenaline pumping. The ultimate culmination is a full-blow fight between mature bulls vying for breeding rights. The action is usually brief but extremely intense between these massive behemoths. Their unpredictable nature power and speed puts them at the top of my list of the most feared and respected ungulates.”

further out to see animals beyond his corner of the world.

“I’d be so stagnant without the travel,” he says. “It’s such a source of inspiration out in the field. I go to Alaska quite a bit, and Glacier and Yellowstone. When we went to Katmai [in Alaska] a while back, we got on an old crab boat and got out on the river where we could spend a day with the bears. It was just phenomenal to see them on terra firma, and the bears would come up as close as 10 feet. We also were able to get close to the wolves. It was awesome. The wolves were mimicking the bears, and we didn’t know where to look first, there was so much going on.”

Smith’s storytelling—like his paintings—are ripe with details.

And that detail factor is one reason he’s stuck with acrylics. “It’s as simple as, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,’” he says. “I started out with oils, but I am more proficient with acrylics, because they let me get the details.

I like that tighter realism in wildlife.

After I’d been painting for a while, I thought I’d get looser, but I didn’t.

The downside is that this approach

is more labor intensive.”

Smith admits that he’s always favored the more realistic approach; he suspects it’s just hardwired into his brain. As a kid, he was constantly sketching and watching animals and, even then, he drew a sense of satisfaction in turning out renditions of animals that were highly detailed and clearly recognizable. As he attends various shows, he sees a definite place for that tighter realism, and perhaps a renewed appreciation of it.

Smith has always loved watching wildlife. “It is amazing how nature has so many specialized animals that can live in such austere settings and adapt to food sources in such harsh conditions. It is neat to be out there, and it gives you a whole different sense,” he says, acknowledging that he still relies on photos as he works in his studio. “There’s just no substitute for being there, but I can still take liberties with the background, which I look at as kind of a theatrical stage. The background should not detract from the focal point, and that takes some editing.”

Involved in such high profile

shows as Masters of the American West and Prix de West, Smith is quick to reflect on just how much the stars aligned to get him to where he is in the world of Western art today.

Although he can’t remember a time he didn’t do art, his beginnings as a professional were humble. Once he graduated from high school, the Minnesota native aspired to attend art school in Minneapolis, but his family couldn’t foot the high tuition bills, so he settled for a free vocational-technical school in his hometown of Mankato. Getting his training in commercial art, he nailed down his first job at a calendar company.

“Those were the days of cut-andpaste, and we used a lot of rubber ART of the WEST • May/June 2013

cement, T-squares, and scissors,” Smith recalls. Then it was onto another gig in Minneapolis, churning out nuts-and-bolts art such as creating yogurt containers for General Mills. “That was BC—before computers—and all that came on just as I gratefully bowed out,” he says, adding that he worked as a commercial artist for seven years.

Doing wildlife art on the side provided Smith with the opportunity to get into art prints. He also waded into the duck stamp art program, and toted up 10 years in the field, creating more than 30 stamps, including the 1988 Federal Duck Stamp. When duck stamp art began to decline, Smith focused more heavily on limited-edition prints,

Cold Stare, acrylic, 11˝ by 14˝ “Wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone Park in 1994 and have since had incredible success populating the northern Rocky Mountains.

Their proliferation has caused a lot of controversy about managing populations. It’s a thrill to observe these formidable predators in the wild. I was recently surprised to see a black wolf running through the woods from my studio window.”

Rising Expectations, acrylic, 30˝ by 20˝ “Grizzly bears have a phenomenal sense of smell.

They can be sound asleep on the riverbank and suddenly awaken, when the ocean tide brings in a new run of salmon. They often stand to get a better perspective of incoming fish, as I have depicted in this painting.”

ART of the WEST • May/June 2013

Winter’s Serenity, acrylic, 16˝ by 32˝ “We are blessed to have a resident elk herd in our area, and I never tire of seeing them throughout the year. I particularly enjoy seeing mature bulls sporting their magnificent antlers in the fall. Their haunting bugle is always a thrill to hear during the autumnal rut.”

something he did for 15 years. By the time that arena began to shrink, Smith had made a name for himself as a wildlife artist.

In 1994, he and Liz moved to Montana and built a home on 20 acres of land. Making the leap to fulltime fine art at the same time was, Smith says, “just plain lucky.” He reconnected with a gallery owner, began to participate in more shows, and garnered a broader audience for his work. “A lot of things happened all at once,” he concedes. “It was like a domino effect.”

The dominos have continued to fall in favorable ways for Smith. Liz, his wife of more than 30 years, has ably maintained much of the business side of the family art scene, as Austere Ascent, acrylic, 22˝ by 18˝ “Lynx are beautiful, highly specialized cats that are rare to encounter in the wild. Their long legs and large feet enable them to thrive in northern forests, where deep snow can be a challenge for their prey. A favorite quarry is the snowshoe hare, whose population is directly tied to that of the lynx.”

the couple raised daughters Danielle and Nicole and son Adam. And now Adam is moving into a strong position in the art world and has accompanied his father on painting trips to Africa and Alaska. “He’s relied on his art the last five years, he’s done several shows, and he’s doing really well,” Smith says of his 28-year-old son. “People can tell the differences in our styles, but they still see the similarities.”

Staying true to his roots in realistic portrayals of wildlife, 59-year-old Smith finds time to contribute art to Ducks Unlimited of Canada, and he and Liz are always up for travel or just hiking in the Intermountain West. Yet Smith constantly thinks about that next trip and what it will do for his painting. He loved the “polar express” last November, and confesses that painting the white on white of polar bears and their surroundings was very satisfying.

Now Smith has his eye on the remote islands north of Norway and that water habitat, complete with polar bears, walruses, and sea birds.

“It’s summertime Arctic,” he says of the area, noting that this time Liz will likely join him as they travel the inland waterways. “I love water and try to incorporate it into my wildlife work whenever I can. It has some interesting elements.”

Peppering the conversation with the differences between Cape Churchill’s polar bears and the polar bears of Svalbard, it is clear that Smith already is envisioning his next painting, mentally packing his bags for the anticipated travel and research. Perhaps his own words, posted on his website after his tundra excursion, express his sentiments best: “I’m a sponge on my research trips and I hope my experience is manifested in my paintings…

I am truly blessed to be able to call these research trips work. They are my primary source of inspiration and a fantastic reward that motivates me throughout the year.”

Barbara Coyner is a writer living in Princeton, Idaho.

May/June 2013• ART of the WEST