It's My Baba's Fault ... Geese - Work in Progress

Aureolin and quin. sienna in a very wet wash.

Pillars of cloisters done with aureolin, permanent rose and cobalt blue. Geese started with wash of  a mixture of aureolin, alizarin crimson and indanthrone - a bit on the violet side.

I painted the shadows of the pillars with thin w/w washes of aureolin, alizarin and indanthrone - you can still see the effect in the center of the painting. It looked too cool and blah, so I am in the process of doing a w/w variegated wash with quin. burnt orange.
When I was very young, my grandmother helped raise me, while my dad was busy being a doctor, and later, out of town studying for his ENT specialty. So my Ukrainian Baba was a HUGE influence on my life. She used to put my sister and I to bed at night telling us animal stories that she made up on the spot. I can still remember all the adventures of Momma Pussy, Daddy Pussy and Baby Pussy, as they travelled out and about Toronto [where we lived then]. Then there was Les Myketa [Mr. Fox - I think I still have that book.] So I believe her stories left an impact on me - I still LOVE all animals, and perceive them as beings with loves, preferences, family lives - beings much as we are.
So here are my Toulouse geese. See them as monks or tourists in a monastery - enjoy them. :)

Thank you for dropping by! Your comments are always welcome!

Pigs and a Chick

Here is Miss S-L Wyandotte, with all the glazing done and the masking off.

I have started to work on her head and feet ...

... and now the details are done [most likely]
I'd like Christine [the purchaser] to take a look before I put the ground shadow in place. 

I am adding more of a red/orange to their coats, and a violet/orange in the shadowed areas.

I've put in the start of a loose background, to give myself an idea of how dark to take the piglets.

Still darkening the pigs, and adding some detail to their faces.

I've been going back in my mind to try to figure out why I have such a strong love of animals. It might partly be my grandmother's doing. She used to put my sister and I to bed by telling us stories she made up, all about the adventures of Momma Pussy, Daddy Pussy and Baby Pussy. I can still hear her voice. And then I remember visits to the zoo in Toronto. As I recall, it had large natural-type enclosures for the animals. My favorite thing to do was to feed the animals pieces of bread and fruit and vegetable through the fencing. I LOVED to watch their excitement at the food,  happily munching away.
That's it for now. It's sunny, the ground is fairly drained, and my big muncher is waiting for some exercise and carrots.

As always, your comments are most welcome!