As an avid collector and admirer of wildlife art, I was intrigued by the thought of attending a gathering of friends where an artist was commissioned to create an original piece of work as a surprise for her husband’s birthday. The painting, (depicting wolves) was unveiled at the party, and I was completely taken back by the absolute breathtaking masterpiece that was standing before me. You could still smell the aroma of linseed oil and fresh paint and the image was simply magnificent. I had to know more.
As it turns out, the artist is a friend of theirs from Montana, and I was going to have an opportunity to meet him at a future event. When that meeting took place, we became instant friends with a lot in common such as wildlife, painting, and Montana He was just an all-around great guy.
His name is Kyle Sims, and he is one of North America’s leading contemporary wildlife artists. Kyle resides in Bozeman Montana…which is where I fly into on my yearly hunting trip to Montana. Luckily, our schedules afforded me the opportunity to visit him at his home and tour his studio on our way home from this year’s hunt.
Touring Kyle’s studio offered me a vivid look into the creative process and the environment that supports it. The space was bright and welcoming, illuminated by large windows that overlooked the majestic Bridger and Gallatin Range mountains that provided soft, consistent light across the room. Canvases in various stages of completion lined the walls, allowing me to see how each piece evolved from photos and loose sketches to richly layered compositions.
Throughout the tour, the scent of linseed oil and fresh paint again added to the immersive atmosphere. Kyle spoke openly about sources of inspiration, noting how everyday scenes and natural textures often sparked new ideas. Explaining a few techniques, he emphasized the importance of experimentation, showing how adjustments in brushstroke, color temperature, or layering could dramatically shift a painting’s mood.
Kyle was born in 1980 and raised at his family’s home just outside Cheyenne, Wyoming. He has developed a distinguished career over the past two decades, attaining recognition for his vivid, realistic, and often emotionally powerful depictions of wild animals in their natural settings.
As a child, with the vast amount of wildlife and natural landscapes at his family’s home in Cheyenne, he was fascinated by animals and often drew birds and small mammals. By the age of 13, Kyle had already developed a passion for wildlife art.
During his teen years, He was encouraged by his parents and early teachers who recognized his talent and supported his interest. He began enrolling in art workshops with established wildlife-artists (like Terry Isaac, Daniel Smith, and Paco Young), and transitioned from gouache (water color) and acrylic to oil painting, a medium that better allowed him to capture softness, realism, and natural light.
After high school, Kyle studied art at Rocky Mountain College and earned his BFA. The surrounding Montana landscape, with its mountains, plains, and wildlife, provided fertile ground for honing his observational skills, a practice he continues to this day.
Kyle’s work is often described as “painterly realism.” He aims not just to produce photographic likenesses of animals, but to evoke “the wonder, beauty and excitement of the natural world.” A distinguishing characteristic of his method is his commitment to field studies. He frequently spends time in natural settings to observe wildlife firsthand, sketch, photograph, and soak in light, color, and atmosphere. These studies inform his studio work, where he translates those observations into large-scale oil paintings. He explains painting from life “trains you to see and interpret how life really looks to the eye, rather than the camera.”
Kyle often uses a palette knife in addition to traditional brushes. This technique allows a more textured, sculptural application of paint, especially around focal points, while leaving backgrounds more impressionistic and loosely rendered. This technique helps balance realism with painterly expression.
Kyle’s canvases often feature the great mammals of North America. Bison, elk, deer, moose, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, and mountain goats make up the majority of his painting. However, he also enjoys painting predators and more elusive animals like mountain lions, cougars, bobcats, otters, wolves, and big cats.
Kyle’s talents have not gone unnoticed. Before turning 30, he had already received significant acclaim:
• In 2004, he was honored by Society of Animal Artists with its Distinguished Young Artist Award.
• In 2009, he not only exhibited at the renowned Prix de West Invitational Art Exhibition & Sale, but also won its top wildlife award. That same year, he earned “Best of Show” at the Buffalo Bill Art Show and Sale in Cody, Wyoming.
• Over the years, he has maintained a strong presence in major exhibitions. In addition to Prix de West, he has exhibited in the Masters of the American West Sale (at the Autry National Center), among others.
His career is marked by sustained productivity and evolution. In his early years he was capable of producing 30–40 paintings per year, today his output is somewhat lower. However, this lower output is compensated with deeper thought, richer technique, and greater artistic ambition per painting.
As recently as 2025, his work was featured in a piece titled “Tales of the Backcountry” in a leading art magazine, describing new paintings that capture both the calm and chaos of the wild. His most recent works…Children of the Water (2025), Twilight Serenade (2023), and Contentment (2023), reflect his continued commitment to pushing the boundaries of wildlife art, with large canvases, refined technique, and emotionally resonant subjects.
Drawing from his commitment to both realism and expressive painting, he creates works that are visually breathtaking and emotionally evocative. Through his canvases, viewers are invited not just to observe wildlife, but to feel it. As long as wild animals roam the landscapes he loves, Sims’s artistry will continue to bring their worlds to life.
To view more of Kyle’s work go to www.kylesims.com
