Sometimes the creation of a particular artwork involves the germ of an idea, followed by a process (short or long) of noodling through my reference material, sketching, rinse and repeat.

At other times an idea seizes me with some urgency and I know with clarity what I want to do - the concept blazes into my mind nearly fully formed. This painting is one of the latter; the desire to portray a bull bison in his prime and oozing attitude, with a background of bold color to highlight his confidence, swept over me and wouldn't let go.

The concept demanded some size, and was one of those magical works that almost paints itself. The bad boy shown here is a Yellowstone bull who had just dispatched a rival and was still in the mood to rumble. There were, of course, about a zillion possible titles for the work, so I asked for creativity from folks on Facebook, and got many excellent suggestions.

Because I anticipate this piece being the first in a series, I'm using "American Original" as a prefix (since it can have multiple meanings), and "The Boss" was the winner of the Facebook titling contest.