Mark your calendars:

May 21 – 23, 2010

Friday           12 pm – 8 pm
Saturday      10 am – 8 pm
Sunday         10 am – 6 pm

Stoney Creek Inn & Conference Center
5291 Stoney Creek Court
Johnston, IA (Just NE of 86th St exit, I-35/80)
See Stoney Creek Inn on Google Maps

Highlights:

• Release of Dream Bucks III – The Midwest Monster
• Choose Father’s Day Gifts at special prices, including up to $90 off a set of framed Dream Bucks Encore canvases
• RSVP here to receive $20 off your Open House purchase!
• Select your custom framing for Dream Bucks III
• Framed prints and canvases of Dream Bucks III ready to take home with you
• Recent paintings and originals on display
• Watch Larry work on a new painting at the Open House
• That art belongs on the wall, not under the bed – bring in your Dream Bucks I and II that you’ve been waiting to frame.
• Daily drawings for artwork prizes

If you RSVP to the Open House before attending, you will receive a $20 gift certificate towards your purchase of $50 or more at the Open House! Click here to RSVP online.

Dream Bucks III - The Midwest Monster by Larry Zach

Dream Bucks III – The Midwest Monster is finished! Larry has completed the painting after spending over a year in designing, creating, and painting. It truly is a beautiful piece of art. His heart and soul have poured into making this the best it can be.

Dream Bucks III – The Midwest Monster is the third image in the Dream Bucks series, which features some of the world’s most impressive whitetails. It follows Dream Bucks I – The Hole in the Horn Buck and Dream Bucks II – The Missing Trophy. Featured in Dream Bucks III is the huge, non-typical buck taken by Kyle Simmons on October 16, 2008 in eastern Iowa. This buck was Kyle’s first buck with a bow and was featured on the January 2009 cover of North American Whitetail magazine. Scoring 275 5/8, it is our new Iowa state record archery non-typical and the third largest non-typical whitetail in the world ever taken by bow and arrow.
New for the Dream Bucks III release, we are offering the choice of either a giclée paper or giclée canvas print in the Classic Standard Numbered (SN) and Artist Proof (AP) editions. Each print number will exist in one form or the other, but not both.

Edition                             Quantity      Image Size       Unframed Price
Master SN Giclée Canvas              100                30 x 20                    $295
Master AP Giclée Canvas              25                   30 x 20                    $365
Classic SN Canvas -or- Paper      850                 22 x 14.75              $145
Classic AP Canvas -or- Paper      125                 22 x 14.75              $175

Dream Bucks III is also available as a framed decorator or encore open edition canvas.

Open Edition                Framed Size        Framed Price
Encore Giclée Canvas            23 x 17                    $129
Decorator Giclée Canvas      17 x 14                     $89

If I’m ordering a Classic SN or AP, should I choose the paper print or canvas?
There are good reasons for either choice. Some collectors may want to order the third image in the series as a paper print to match the two previous Dream Bucks paintings already purchased. Others will choose to purchase their number as a canvas because it looks like an original painting.

Why is Zach Wildlife Art focusing more on canvas prints?
Three years ago we acquired a top-of-the-line giclée ink printer, which enables us to provide the best artwork possible. Everything from designing and creating the original painting to the color management and printing are done in-house by Larry. Every step of the process is perfected according to Larry’s highest standards. This has allowed us to produce images that are closer to the original than ever before. Giclée printing on canvas provides the richest and most vibrant color matching. Our giclée canvases are treated with an ultraviolet, waterproof finish that protects the image and extends the life of the canvas to 200 years.

Some advantages to the canvas are:

• Looks like the original painting. Many mistake it for the original.
• No glass used in framing, which eliminates potential issues with glare disrupting viewing.
• Much more affordable than an original and replaceable if damaged.
• Master Canvases can be custom-sized to fit your wall space.

Giclée canvases are an excellent value for even the most discriminating consumer.

How can Zach Wildlife Art produce a better product at such an attractive price?
Several things make this possible. Because we now do our own printing and Larry has full control over the end result, we are able to save you money that would normally go to a publisher or outsource printer. In addition, with our gallery move, we have trimmed our overhead significantly, and we are passing on these savings to our collectors. Just as the economy has influenced Americans to budget more wisely, Zach Wildlife Art is finding ways to cut expenses and make our products more affordable for our collectors.

The Classic Canvas edition is priced at $145 (or $175 for the AP), the same price as past paper prints. We have also been able to reduce the price of the Master Canvas SN edition from $425 to only $295 and the Master Canvas AP edition from $495 to only $365. All are tremendous values.

To place your order, you may choose one of the following:

• Call Zach Wildlife Art at (515) 964-7872
• Email us at info at zachwildlifeart dot com
• Attend our Open House on May 21-23

Even prior to finishing Dream Bucks II – The Missing Trophy, I was already searching for a subject for its sequel, Dream Bucks III. Living in Iowa and knowing many serious deer hunters, coming up with a list of potential candidates was not difficult. However, with the multitude of great bucks this state produces, deciding which particular trophy to paint can be a challenge.

Things got a little easier by late October 2008. Photos of a tremendous buck started appearing on the internet. At least a dozen friends forwarded the photos to me to ensure I knew about the buck taken by a bowhunter in eastern Iowa.

After a couple phone calls, I found myself talking to Kyle Simmons, a pleasant young man from Jackson County, Iowa. You can read the story of Kyle’s hunt in an article from North American Whitetail here.

After discussing the concept for the Dream Bucks series, Kyle was interested in the possibility of having his buck featured in the upcoming painting. We agreed on a time and place where I could see the buck in person and take photographs.

Once I arrived and Kyle pulled out the rack, it didn’t take long to realize I was looking at a remarkable set of antlers. The rack was not only going to score well, but more importantly, it was very impressive visually. It was everything an artist wanted!

Unfortunately, it had taken me longer than I anticipated to get to Kyle’s place, so I had to work fast to get photos before the sun hid behind a cloud bank moving in from the west.

The initial visit and photo-shoot was followed by numerous phone conversations, but it was challenging to arrange for a follow-up photo session while the rack was being cast for reproductions and being mounted by Joe Meder of Solon.

During this period, I considered, literally, dozens of compositions. I found a number of combinations I liked initially, but that would not work for this painting. I needed a strong composition, but the background had certain requirements beyond those of an artistic nature.

Over the years, I’ve partnered with many conservation groups. Since I now do my own color work and printing in-house, we’ve developed some creative ways to help conservation groups maximize their fundraising efforts.

Starting with Dream Bucks II, I have been customizing the painting and creating a unique image and edition for each of several conservation groups. For example, the prints in the Iowa Pheasants Forever edition have several added rooster pheasants, unique to this edition. The Iowa Ducks Unlimited edition has a number of wood ducks included, inconspicuously. Some editions include wild turkey. By offering a unique design, conservation group chapters have been able to raise increased funds for great causes.

That brings me to the complications introduced for me, as the artist designing each painting. It needs to be a composition that not only works well for the main focal point, the buck, but also one that provides a natural setting for turkey, pheasants, and waterfowl to share the scene, as well.

After many trials and much evaluation, I finally settled on one painting design. Also, I was able to see both Kyle and the trophy again at the Iowa Deer Classic recently, and I used this opportunity to take more photos of the rack in better lighting conditions.

[I will add some photos here as soon as they’re copied off my camera.]

I am currently in the process of painting the original, and I hope to have it done soon. After all, spring is coming soon, which means habitat management and prepping for this year’s food plots!

In my next post, I’ll show you the design for Dream Bucks III and explain how the particular composition was developed.

Kyle will be splitting time between our Zach Wildlife Art booth, where a trophy replica will be displayed, and the Hunter’s Specialties booth, where the original rack will be shown.

Make sure you stop by our booth so I can tell you about the upcoming Dream Bucks III painting featuring the Kyle Simmons buck!

Customized version of the North American Whitetail magazine cover

(And, just for fun, see if you can tell the difference between the real rack and the replica.)