8890 Elk Above Indian Village
Jerry Yarnell – Inspiration of Painting Fine Art Instructional PBS Television Video Series

In this beginner acrylic painting lesson, Jerry guides you step-by-step through creating a dramatic elk and Native American village scene on an 18 x 24 canvas during a 104 minute lesson. A magnificent bull elk stands high above the water as the sun breaks through a colorful cloud-filled sky, while a distant village of teepees rests along the opposite shoreline. Reflections in the water, distant mountains, evergreen trees, and richly textured foreground vegetation complete this striking Western wildlife scene.

You'll learn how to paint a realistic elk with believable proportions, body structure, fur, facial features, legs, and an impressive rack of antlers while placing the animal naturally within the surrounding landscape. Jerry demonstrates fine art techniques for developing the dramatic sunset sky, glowing light behind the clouds, distant mountains, evergreen trees, shoreline, water, and reflections. This step-by-step acrylic painting tutorial also teaches how to create realistic depth and distance by making distant elements softer, lighter, and less detailed while keeping the foreground elk and vegetation stronger and more defined.

Special focus is given to painting elk, antlers, realistic animal fur, teepees, dramatic clouds, glowing sunlight, water reflections, evergreen trees, distant mountains, and foreground vegetation. Jerry shows how changes in value, color, contrast, and detail can separate the foreground, middle ground, and background while directing the viewer's eye through the composition from the elk toward the distant village and illuminated sky.

By the end of this lesson, you'll gain confidence in painting wildlife, antlers, dramatic skies, water reflections, distant scenery, and Western subjects while learning how to bring several major elements together into a balanced fine art composition. This beginner acrylic painting tutorial is an excellent project for artists wanting to strengthen their wildlife and landscape painting skills while creating a memorable scene combining a majestic bull elk, Native American teepees, glowing light, and expansive Western scenery.