Carl Brenders

Carl Brenders was born near Antwerp, Belgium, and has drawn since childhood. Brenders' paintings encompass every intricacy of nature, for he devotes equal attention to the detail of each wildlife subject, its habitat, and the mood created by light. Brenders first creates his art images from pencil sketches. Then, using a mixed-media combination of watercolor and gouache painting (a technique he developed during the last 25 years), Carl finishes up his images. His paintings are never complete however, until the feathers, hair, leaves, or pine thorns "get into his skin." Carl Brenders has studied at the Fine Art Academy in Antwerp and later at Berchem. His artwork is regularly exhibited in the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum's prestigious "Birds in Art" and "Wildlife in Art" shows. Brenders is widely collected in North America, France, Germany, Japan, Spain, Holland, Argentina, and in his native Belgium. Brenders combines his dreams, his senses, his imagination, and his strict attention to anatomical perfection to create his wildlife art paintings. Today, Carl divides his time between his homes in Belgium and France. He has produced wildlife illustrations for more than 20 books in a series entitled The Secret Life of Animals. Carl's art is the subject of the book, Wildlife: The Nature Painting of Carl Brenders (Abrams/Mill Pond, 1994), and it has been featured in More Wildlife Painting: Techniques of Modern Masters (Watson-Guptill Publications, 1996) and The Best of Wildlife Art (North Light Books, 1997). Brenders can be seen in the Mill Pond Press video: Windows into Wilderness: A Portrait of Carl Brenders. In 1998, Carl Brenders was inducted into the U.S. Art Hall of Fame.

Carl Brenders Images:
Den Mother (detail)
High Adventure (detail)
Mother of Pearls (detail)
One to One (detail)
Power and Grace (detail)
Tundra Summit (detail)