Tucker Smith: A Celebration of Nature Family Guide

Tucker Smith:

A Celebration of Nature

Family Guide

All About the Artist Tucker Smith

Tucker Smith is an artist from the Wind River Range in Wyoming.

Smith is a wildlife artist, which means he specializes in portraying animals and their landscapes.

He is a self-taught artist! He did not go to school to be an artist, but to be a computer programmer.

He learned about art through study and practice at home.

Did you know?

Art depicting animals is some of the oldest art in existence? Lots of cave paintings are of animals! Humans have always had a fascination for wildlife.

Explore the exhibition and count how many of these animals you can find.

Bears

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Elk

Rams

This is Tucker Smith and his horse Blue on one of their many adventures in the mountains to study animals and nature!

The Wind River Range is over 2,000 miles away from this museum!

All artists are inspired by something. Smith is inspired by the beauty of nature, by the Wind River Range, and by other artists.

What things, places, or people inspire you to create? Use the bubbles below to brainstorm ideas!

Smith takes photographs of things that inspire him, like the Wind River Range and this ram skull. Cameras are a great tool for artists to capture their inspirations!

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Observation Observation is more than just looking. When an artist observes a subject they notice small details: color, shape, texture, and more. This can include everything from wildlife to still life and even yourself.

Smith spends a lot of time observing nature and gathering subjects in his journal to use in his artwork.

Then he uses his journal to make a composition in his art studio. Composition is the arrangement of visual elements in a work of art.

Practice your observation skills: Stop and look around where you are standing. What do you see?

Notice the small details, like color, shape, and texture!

Write or draw below.

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Did you know?

Artists use different tools to help them observe. Smith uses a type of viewfinder that he built to help him form a composition.

By looking through a viewfinder, artists choose what they want to focus on.

A viewfinder

A viewfinder helps you look closely at the world around you and can be used to observe wildlife, art, people, landscapes or anything you want to focus on.

Practice focusing on what you want to observe! Use the viewfinder below and explore the galleries as well as the sculptures outside.

Hold up your viewfinder, close one eye, and look around!

Remember to use your Museum Manners!

Help us protect the art by not touching or getting too close

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Protecting Wildlife Art is powerful! Smith uses his art to help remind people of the environment and wildlife that need to be protected.

Wildlife artists, like Smith, focus on the beauty of the natural world (animals and landscapes). It is important for the health of the planet to protect wildlife, landscapes, and the environment.

Observe Smith’s artwork. What are some subjects and places he wants people to know need protection? Write your answers in the boxes.

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Did you know?

American Bison used to roam the plains in large numbers with an estimate of over 30 million American Bison at one point, but by the end of the 1800s they were nearly

extinct due to overhunting. Today, they have been protected, and the American Bison population is at 31,000. They are considered “near threatened.” That is progress, but we still have work to do to protect the American Bison!

Take it home!

With your guardian’s permission, collect your viewfinder, some pencils, and this pocket journal. Observe the natural environment around your home. Take notes on what you are observing and do some quick sketches. Create a composition to show what you believe needs protection.

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Artwork Credits

All artwork and photographs by Tucker Smith (b. 1940) unless otherwise noted Cover Page 1 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5

Page 6 Page 7

Moose Falls Y.N.P., 2014, oil on canvas, 30 x 40 inches, Purchased from the estate of Tony Greene with funds generously provided by Susan and John Jackson, Joffa, Kavar and Bill Kerr, Frank Sands, Maggie and Dick Scarlett, Rosella Thorne, and Georgene Tozzi, National Museum of Wildlife Art. top: The Refuge, 1994, oil on canvas, 36 x 120 inches, JKM Collection ©, National Museum of Wildlife Art cave painting: public domain sketch for Box R Pack String, 1989, in Tucker Smith: A Celebration of Nature exhibition catalogue viewfinder: Licensed from Adobe Stock, © swoodie sketch: sketch for Forager, 2014, in Tucker Smith: A Celebration of Nature exhibition catalogue top left: sketch for Forager, 2014, in Tucker Smith: A Celebration of Nature exhibition catalogue top right: sketch for The Refuge (detail), 1994, in Tucker Smith: A Celebration of Nature exhibition catalogue paintings, left to right: Return of Summer (detail), 1990, oil on canvas, 30 x 42 inches, Prix de West Collection, National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum; The Old Rams, 2008, oil on canvas, 30 x 40 inches, Collection of Hulcote Trading Company Inc.; Moose Falls Y.N.P., 2014, oil on canvas, 30 x 40 inches, Purchased from the estate of Tony Greene with funds generously provided by Susan and John Jackson, Joffa, Kavar and Bill Kerr, Frank Sands, Maggie and Dick Scarlett, Rosella Thorne, and Georgene Tozzi, National Museum of Wildlife Art. Return to the Prairie, 2012, oil on canvas, 16 x 40 inches, Collection of Marjorie and Frank Sands sketch for The Refuge, 1994, in Tucker Smith: A Celebration of Nature exhibition catalogue

This exhibition was organized by the National Museum of Wildlife Art of the United States and made possible at the National Sporting Library & Museum through the generosity of The Manuel & Mary Johnson Foundation.