Mark Anderson's painting “Velvet Touch” won best in show at the Butler Art Center & Gallery's Nature and Wildlife Exhibit this year. Submitted photo

Butler Art Center & Gallery is displaying a Nature and Wildlife exhibit for the 74th time, inviting artists to submit pieces that depict outdoor scenery, animals and plants.

The gallery remains a big draw for artists. It garnered submissions from people living in areas outside Butler County including Monroeville, Grove City, Tionesta, Wexford, Pittsburgh and Kittanning.

Mark Anderson, of West Deer Township, won best in show for his painting “Velvet Touch,” which depicts a buck rubbing his antlers on a tree in the snow. The image is based on a cover photo from Pennsylvania Game News. Anderson said he is an avid hunter and enjoys engaging with nature and wildlife through artistic means in addition to his winter hobby.

Observing wildlife such as deer — as well as animals like grouse and chickadees, which he also submitted paintings of — helped Anderson compose the image in a way that looks realistic.

“The more information you can get, the more accurate the painting would be,” Anderson said. “If you're out observing what their behavior is and what the habitat is and things like that, you can get a better idea of what they're all about.”

The gallery features a number of different media, including a 3D sculpture of a giraffe’s head.

Another painter who submitted is Andrew Hazelton, a Grove City-based artist who uses numerous tools in his impressionist-inspired work.

His “Afternoon Passage” is based on a sunset he saw on an afternoon bike ride. He used watercolor, colored pencils, ink, gouache and acrylic paint to bring the scene to life. It features deer. However, the animal is not the focal point of the image, but is meant to be another presence in the scene.

“The challenge was in the lighting, especially trying to get it correct with the deer in the piece as well,” Hazelton said. “It became a mixed-media because my work is representational and detailed and I try to become somewhat impressionistic, so it's a balance of both.”

Hazelton also has work for sale at Victorian City Art and Frame Shop in Franklin.

The Nature & Wildlife Exhibit runs through Oct. 30. The art center is open from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays at 344 S. Main St. in Butler, and is free to enter.