Although better known nationally for his movie illustrations Reynold Brown did many paintings and drawings for the Fine Arts Market. Some of this material was produced while he was also doing illustration work.
When he first returned from New York in 1951 he took a few classes with noted
portrait artist Will
Foster in Los Angeles. This very much affected his choice of colors and for many
years in his fine arts work he tended to use muted colors. This may also be at
least in part due to his German/British 
heritage. The early portraits
included a series of artist's model "Camille". The portraits, mostly
studies, are generally subdued, not only in color, but also in presentation. It
may be that they provided a quiet place to paint in comparison to the extreme
action and drama required for Brown's movie and magazine illustration. This
early experience caused Brown to use muted colors in his landscapes and western
scenes generally.
Besides the portrait Brown did a series of seascapes and landscapes. Most, although not all, of these his ocean scenes were in the harbors near Los Angeles. His landscapes were generally of the chaparral region of California as well as its desert areas.
Reynold Brown became angered by the changes in Hollywood and the type of movie commissions he was getting, especially those from American International Pictures (AIP) and was frustrated by the poor quality of the movies he was getting commissions on. These were often hells angels, or sleazy types of movies. Mary Louise encouraged him to quit doing this type of work. He finally did so in 1970. He was very worried about how he was going to pay his bills. About two days after taking the material back in to the studios Brown received a call from Perry House Gallery in Monterrey, CA. The owner had heard about his work (possibly through his friend and their client, artist/illustrator Donald Teague). Brown took his desert landscapes, and recognizing the recent growing interest in western subject paintings, painted cowboys into them.
Brown set up a studio in San Gabriel, CA, near the mission, with his former
teacher and life long friend, Lester Bonar. interruptions from visitors made
work difficult so he moved his studio back home, to La Verne, CA where he had
worked since 1954.
He was painting a subject he liked and over the next few years became popular in the western arts market. He was among the first artists to be shown in Trailside Gallery. This gallery would become one of the leaders in the western art market in what was then a quiet little town, Jackson, WY.
Brown quickly shifted from the quiet landscapes to story telling. His paintings were filled with cattle rustlers, stampedes and indian hunting parties. He was moving to a more historical approach, painting scenes based on his readings of western history. In 1976
His paintings receiving wide acclaim Brown seemed destined to be one of the top names in the western art market, but in 1976. That spring he was working on an historical piece, "The Demise of the Madam." Placed in Virginia City, NV in 1867, it showed a funeral march for Julia Bulette, one of the first pioneers in the area and owner of the local brothel. For the members of the crowd Brown used his own friends, doctors, neighbors, even the milkman. But the work was not completed, Brown suffered a massive heart attack and stroke. Although Reynold Brown the artist survived, the meticulous painter of a realistic scene did not.
