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!

The Evolution of the Chicken

Those are raindrops on the lens. It is so wet, the ducks were swimming on the lower back lawn this morning. Hope you can see them.

It's so dark and gloomy today, the lighting is very poor for photography.
Chicken's colors are actually more intense, and the darks darker.
This is a small [for me] painting - 7 x 8 inches. I would like your opinion. I think she looks good standing alone, with no background. What do you think?

I have also started the fledgling barn swallow again, with a much lighter background  - w/w with quin. burnt orange, quin. siena and cobalt blue.

As always, I love your comments!

Doing It's Thing

I've been trying to think of a way to paint dead hydrangea. This I started with a w/w, go where you will, wash of quin. gold and quin. siena. I must admit, I like the shapes even at this early stage.

Again, all done w/w, painting groups of petals. I am using quin. pink, alizarin crimson, quin. burnt orange, cobalt blue and indanthrone blue. 

I am at this point now, and am quite excited about how it is coming along.
This will be about 6 x 8 inches when finished.

I am also re-doing this chicken, trying to keep her nice and loose.

I needed something else, something loose, to work on with the larger hydrangea painting.  It's quite a controlled painting, and all those greens are a bit much to look at for long. I also wanted to get out of the old comfort zone and into a smaller format.

As always, your comments are so welcome!

Just in Passing ...

Studio light

Outdoors, sunny day, in shade

I think I've found the best lighting for my work. The only problem is that is is not often sunny in Vancouver in the winter. C'est la vie! 

A Day Made for Painting - INSIDE

I think Missy is done. I'll put her aside for a bit, and see how I feel about her in a few days. I am still not 100% thrilled with the strength of the composition, but there is a nice diagonal flow, and a "v" there.

Value sketch for the monk.

I've done a varied w/w wash with quin. burnt orange. I recently realized I use a lot of this triad of colors - burnt orange, violet or pink and a blue. Wonder why? Years ago, I went to see a clairvoyant. She said I had a very strong orange aura. I thought maybe it had to do with all the carrots I feed my horses! :)

Anyway, as alway, your comments are most welcome!

Odds and Ends - Horses, Chickens and a Monk

Trigger's painting, sitting under the spot where he'll hang in Kim's kitchen, where he'll be seen all the time.

I thought I was finished ...

The background wasn't right for Kim, so I said I'd try to really darken it, and neutralize the purples which were wrong for the intended setting. This is after two w/w washes of phthalo blue and indanthrone blue.

I am also warming his face and neck with very thin, carefully applied glazes of quin. coral, quin. siena and quin. burnt orange. It looked too cold and flat after darkening the background.

Chick is coming along nicely ...

This is from a photo of a friend of mine. I can hardly wait to get to it!!! The strength and serenity of his face are magnificent. I still have to plan the background.

I was very upset earlier this week when Trigger's mom called to tell me that the old boy had died on Saturday. It was very sudden and completely unexpected. Kim also asked if I could change the background in the portrait; she wants something almost charcoal gray, very dark.  I promised her I would try, or do another painting. So this is where I am right now with the painting.

As always, your comments are most welcome!

oh boy, it's snowing ... SO I'M PAINTING

I finally got Buddy to the stage where I could remove the masking.  Some of the last black w/w washes were rather intimidating, black paint oozing everywhere. I know that's why I had been procrastinating; I did not want to start Buddy the VIII. I think it's OK, but needs a lot of finishing.

I left Missy here ...

I started adding depth to her body. I may have to be more intense with  hue, as the head and neck look so wrong now. Looking at it, I thought some pink, blue and burnt orange, delicately applied would help.

The weather is most un-Spring-like; most days we have some snow falling but not staying. I feel so sorry for Bruno, out in his somewhat soggy paddock. I know it's not doing his feet any good, so I've started putting his hay in the stall where it's dry; for some reason he's not thrilled with the arrangement, or just unused to it, but he'll be fine. It's too miserable to ride outside, so I've taken to hand-walking him in the park, where the footing is hard. That way, we BOTH get some exercise! :)

She's Not Finished, but I HAD to Share

I masked the chick's perimeter, and the corn at her feet, and did a different w/w wash.
I REALLY like the effect - subtle, but gives a bit of depth.

Some quin. burnt orange and aureolin on her neck.

Varied greys of aureolin, pink and cobalt blue on her body, and some more intense blue-black on her neck.

She just looks so busy, in a chicken-ish sort of way. She makes me smile - I had to share.
Actually, I am having so much fun painting her, I almost feel guilty!