Elk in Lake McDonald 1906

Charles M. Russell made this watercolor of elks in Lake McDonald, and it feels like you're right there with them. The light in this image is something else. Look at the blues in the mountains mirrored in the lake, and then the amber-yellows in the sky meeting the sand. I imagine Russell feeling the cool air and the quiet stillness of the lake while he made this. I can sense the elk’s thirst in the way Russell paints the water dripping from the larger elk's mouth, almost like he’s right there feeling the cool liquid trickling down. The texture of the rocky shoreline looks rough and uneven compared to the smooth surface of the water. I wonder if Russell was thinking about other painters like Homer while he was making this? Painting is all about conversations, like one big telephone game across time. Each artist picks up the receiver and adds their own twist, and that’s how art keeps evolving.