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Painting of An American Spirit

Work In Progress – An American Spirit

This is my very close friend here in Cody. His name is Greg Koschtial. Leigh and I met him in 2004 when he was outbid on my pistol piece that was up for auction at the Buffalo Bill History Center. The next day, we came into his store and I gave him a signed print I had. A few weeks later, a beautiful sterling silver, handmade bison pin with a 22ct. gold horn arrived in my mailbox. Greg is a master craftsman jeweler. We soon became really good friends after that. Just before we moved here in 2007, Greg lost his left leg in a terrible motorcycle accident. He was riding near Jackson Hole, WY with a friend, and a friend of his friend. Greg spotted a large bull bison near the road and he pulled off on the berm to wait until the others caught up. The friend of a friend, wasn't paying attention because he was standing up on his bike taking pictures and he didn't see Greg. He slammed into his fiberglass bags on Greg's Honda Gold Wing bike. They exploded into big pieces of sharp razors that cut his leg almost completely off. Thank God an…

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Painting of Christina

Work In Progress – Christina

This is Christina Tift. She is originally from Denmark. I met Christina and her husband, Jeff a few years back at the Cody, Wyoming Annual Horse Auction. They live in Sheridan, WY. This painting is traditional oils on Ampersand Gessobord Masonite. The finished size is 16" x 16". Here is version one. On day one, I laid down a base coat for Christina’s Stetson, face, scarf, hair and leather collar. This is day two. I have added more detail to her face and laid down my base coat for her wool coat and hands. Day three. I finished detailing her upper body. I also added the leather trim on the top of her chaps and the decorative leather trim with the Conchos on the front of her jeans. Day four. I spent the entire day roughing in the back of her saddle, saddle blanket and the horse’s rear. Day five. Here I have laid in the base coat for her beautiful, weathered chaps. Day six. I finished detailing her chaps and the back of her saddle. I was able to lay in the base coat for the front of her saddle. Day seven. Here I laid in the horse’s neck,…

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Painting of Proud – Jay Eagle

Work In Progress – Proud – Jay Eagle

This fine young man is Native American, Jay Eagle from Bullhead, South Dakota. Jay is Hunkpapa/Oglala Lakota. This painting is traditional oils on Ampersand Gessobord Masonite. The finished size is 16" x 16". Here is version one. On day one, I laid down a base coat for Jay’s face. This is day two. I have added some detail to his face and laid down my base coat for Jay’s leather bonnet straps, neck and the top of his cloth necklace that holds a feathered pendent that is just out of the picture. Day three. Here I added the cloth that is wrapped around his long hair braids. I also roughed in the feather cluster on his left shoulder. Day four. I spent the entire day roughing in all the feathers in his bonnet and more detail to his face. This is the final version. I finished detailing out his bonnet feathers, painted in the off-white background and lastly, I signed it. Here are two close-ups of my final version to show all the detail. Thanks for riding along. Stay tuned, there are many more of my works in progress to come. Denny

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Painting of Standing Tall – Ben Roethlisberger

Work In Progress – Standing Tall – Ben Roethlisberger

This is Pittsburgh Steeler All-Pro Quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger.This painting is traditional oils on museum-grade Masonite. The finished size is 20" x 16".Here is version one. I laid down the base coat for his helmet shell. A lot more detail to come! This is day two. After his helmet and cage dried, I was able to paint the melted snow droplets on the surfaces. I also roughed in Ben's face and added the Duke Football. Day three. Here I roughed in the upper part of his jersey, his long sleeved turtleneck shirt along with his leather gloves. Day four. I spent the day roughing in the front of Ben’s jersey that is a nylon mesh. I also added the Pittsburgh Steeler and NFL Equipment patches to his jersey. Day five. Today I added a lot of the creases and folds in his jersey. I also added the faint white dots which shows his white shoulder pads underneath. I painted in his number 7 to his jersey as well. Day six. I spent the better part of this day painting in all the black mesh holes in Ben’s jersey front. Day seven. Here, I laid in the background color. This is the…

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Painting of The Mountain King, Gage Skinner

Work In Progress – The Mountain King, Gage Skinner

This is Gage Skinner. Gage is a cultural anthropologist, widely-traveled former Peace Corp Volunteer, Foreign Service Officer (South America), State and National Park Service Ranger (Oklahoma and the Rocky Mountain Region), professor at Grossmont-Cuyamaca College District, Fur Trade historian, re-enactor and poet. Gage posed for me in 2006 at the Mountain Man Rendezvous in Pinedale, Wyoming. This painting is traditional oils on "Realgesso" Masonite. Day two. Day three. Day four. Day five. Day six. Here is the final version of Gage's portrait. Here are two close-ups of my final version to show all the detail. Thanks for riding along. Stay tuned, there are many more of my works in progress to come. Denny

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Pittsburgh October 2011 1

Pittsburgh – October 2011

I wanted to post a photo of the framed piece of ":09 Seconds Remaining" that I did for Brett Keisel. What a great job my friend did on the framing! If you look closely, you will see that she mounted one of my brushes that I used to paint his portrait with. The brush has a splash of "Steeler Gold" on the tip. Brett loved it! On to Pittsburgh to deliver the painting to Brett and go to the Steelers/Titans game on October 9th. In the owner's booth with the Rooneys at the Steelers/Titans game on October 9th! Good times for all! Did I say, the Steelers won? Steeler owner, Art Rooney, Jr and I discussing football at the Steeler/Titans game on October 9th. What an honor to sit in this great man's presence! Mr. Rooney said it looks like we are getting ready to send in the next play! Art Rooney, Jr. and I signing Brett Keisel prints. I donated one of these prints to the Steelers for their next upcoming charity event. Denny

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Steeler Great, L.C. Greenwood

L.C. Greenwood ‘being cheated’ out of Hall

L.C. Greenwood shown next to my painting in this article about him being cheated from the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Twenty-nine years after retiring from professional football, L.C. Greenwood's time in the spotlight is again coming around. The former Steelers defensive end turned 65 this month, and thousands of fans from his native Mississippi to Pittsburgh are mounting a campaign to get him elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Despite impressive statistics that include twice being named All-Pro and selected to six Pro Bowls as a member of the legendary Steel Curtain defense that helped the 1970s teams win six AFC Division Championships and four Super Bowls, Greenwood isn't enshrined in Canton, Ohio, despite seven nominations since 1991. Though quarterback sacks were not yet an official statistic, Greenwood recorded 73.5 sacks during his 13-year career and recovered 14 fumbles. Knee injuries forced his retirement before the start of the 1982 season. "I don't know what my career would have been without him," said former defensive tackle Joe Greene, inducted in 1987. "He should absolutely be in the Hall of Fame. Bottom line, he's being cheated." ...Read full article: Greene: L.C. Greenwood 'being cheated' out of Hall -…

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Painting of A Wyoming Spirit Brett Keisel

Work In Progress – A Wyoming Spirit, Brett Keisel

This is Pittsburgh Steeler Defensive End, Brett Keisel from Greybull, Wyoming. I posed him where he hunts, up on the famous Carter Mountain Range. This is located right above where we live in Cody, Wyoming. This painting is traditional oils on museum-grade Masonite. The finished size is 18" x 24". Day two. Day three. Day four. Day five. Day six. Day seven. Day eight. Here is the final version of Brett's portrait. Here are four close-ups of my final version to show all the detail. One little side note, if you look at the last close-up, you will see a small pair of buffalo tracks after my signature. This is to commemorate Brett’s High School mascot and my company name. I want to thank Brett for allowing me to paint his image. Also, I want to thank my wife Leigh, for taking her valuable time to photograph all the images of this painting. Thanks for riding along. Stay tuned, there are many more of my works in progress to come. Denny

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Brett Keisel Ranch 01

Brett Keisel Lands at the Ranch

Brett came to the ranch in Cody, Wyoming on July 3rd 2011 to see his painting that he commissioned me to do. I offered up my suggestion for the title of my latest piece. In my painting, he looks up at the scoreboard, giving me the title, ":09 Seconds Remaining." He loved it! We also picked the proper framing which will feature one of the actual brushes that I used to paint the piece. It has a splash of gold paint on the tip. It will be mounted in a small opening in the matte. Needless to say, Brett really liked the painting! (See below) It was all Brett's idea for this photo! At first, I thought it was funny but after he left, the more I thought about it, I considered this one of the best compliments I could receive! While Brett was here, he signed some special items for me and two special friends, Becky Jones and Scott Spillman of Tampa, FL. Scott and I were fellow artists at VF Imagewear. Scott and Becky were seated right behind the Steeler bench fall of 2010 when they defeated the Tampa Bay Bucs. This was the infamous game where Brett…

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