Gearing up For the Fall Season, Continued

Portrait of a Holstein cow with blue-gray background

Portrait of 798.  Oil on linen. 16"x16". 2013. For sale at Waterford Fair.

This is the second painting I created for the Red Barn Art Exhibit at the Waterford Fair.  This heifer was one of the herd at Rocky Pointe farm that I visited late last month.

The abstract idea behind the painting was to show the pattern of blacks against whites using a relatively cool palette of ultramarine blue, burnt sienna, viridian, bright red and cadmium yellow light.

Although the cow was standing in a field I tried to stay away from green as much as possible so I brushed on a thin layer of pale blue to give the painting more mood.

I always enjoy painting the shadow side of a figure and this was no exception - it's a challenge to create the illusion of form with a limited value range.  I think I really nailed the eye and the ear tag, too.

I especially like this painting now that I have it framed.


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