In the moment
Cynthia Neill, Flames, oil, 16 x 20.
This story was featured in the May 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art May 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
EVER SINCE Cynthia Neill was 5 years old, when her tiny hand could ably grip a pencil and draw the shapes of animals, she has never looked beyond animals for inspiration. Besides their beauty, the wildlife artist appreciates their ability to live in the present. “They aren’t worried about what happened yesterday or what’s next,” she says. “They relish the moment.”
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- Cynthia Neill, Larger Than Life, oil, 30 x 40.
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- Cynthia Neill, Sudden Confrontation, oil, 20 x 24.
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- Cynthia Neill, In Sync, oil, 24 x 30.
Throughout her fine-art career, Neill has portrayed a variety of North American wildlife using oils as well as pen and ink. She has also been depicting African fauna in oils since around 2007, when she and her husband, photographer Stephen McClung, made their first of many excursions to Africa to photograph the exotic beasts she later paints back at home in Heath, TX. During the couple’s recent trek to Tanzania, they witnessed a herd of antelope traversing a crocodile-ridden river during the annual Great Wildebeest Migration. “That’s what turned me on to the African art,” Neill says of such thrilling experiences. “It’s so incredible, and it’s happening right in front of you.”
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- Cynthia Neill, Serengeti Gaze, oil, 30 x 40.
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- Cynthia Neill, Playtime, oil, 16 x 20.
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- Cynthia Neill, The Radiant King, oil, 36 x 48.
From the elusive leopard to the brawny Cape buffalo, Neill’s emotive portrayals convey not only her deep respect for her subjects but also the awe she feels in the often “split-second” moments they appear before her. “Then they may be gone,” she says. The artist, who has studied with contemporary wildlife painters John Banovich and Daniel Smith, describes her style as impressionistic realism. While her animal subjects are more defined, her soft-focus backgrounds are designed to “bring the animal forward to you,” as she herself saw them. —Kim Agricola
Neill is represented by www.neillwildlifeart.com.
This story was featured in the May 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art May 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
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