A Host of Farm Animals and More ... or ... More Paintings Soon!!!

Crescent Beach - a small marina

Lovely sky and water reflections

Beautiful peach-colored hollyhock near the old farmhouse

Stewart Farm - heritage site of farm home and outbuildings

Two very photogenic toms

Their chatty lady-friend - she chattered away the entire time I was there taking photos.

Here she is.

The toms were in display the entire time.  Maybe the hen was sweet-talking them???

Then along came the family of Chinese geese. Dad was very protective, so I kept my fingers close to myself! 

The kids

Next door to the geese and turkeys was a huge pig pen.

And almost home, I stopped to take some photos of the local sheep.

I don't do well with a lot of noise and loud people. My landlady was having children, grand-children and great grand-children, and assorted other people, so I decided to head out at dinner time and see if I could get some reference boat photos for a painting I'd like to do. I missed out on the boats, but when driving around, did get lots of animal photos. The turkeys were hilarious, with the hen chattering and chuckling and squeaking to me [or herself], and I was trying to talk turkey back to her. The toms were on constant display, all puffed up, with tails fully flared, looking utterly alien. And the geese were delightful - mom and dad and four goslings. 

The area where I live is farming country - small hobby farms and a lot of wooded areas. And close by [about 10 minutes away] is the ocean, with miles of beaches, piers, boats and a long promenade. So I got a bit of everything today with my camera, and came home a happy camper!

Thank you so much for dropping by!

Just What You Always Wanted ... MORE Geese

Working sketch

Ditto for 2nd goose

Some value sketches

Masked, and two separate washes done. First wash was  aureolin. pink and cobalt blue. Second wash was a spattering in  a pre-wet area of burnt sienna and umber. I thought I'd try some granulation for texture. This painting has already hit the shower once, because I tried doing the granulating wash first - OOPS. I'll probably start the goose before deciding what, if anything, to add to the background.  

And this one also went for a swim to remove the first wash. I have cryptic notes on the sketch about the washes I'm considering - aureolin from upper left, quin. gold from left, pink from top, quin. burnt orange from bottom, and either cobalt blue or ultramarine from right and lower right.


For some reason, I am finding myself feeling pressured to push myself, to improve in my painting. It may be partly because I have much less time to paint right now. One of the dentists with whom I work fractured her left radius, and is of course unable to work. As her practice consists mostly of hygiene patients, I am filling in for her. I think that's only part of the reason. I'm just finding the creative part of my brain full of ideas and what-if's. So, we shall see ...

As always, I love your comments - always welcome!

I Am NOT Mentioning the "B" Word ... but the Geese Are Coming Nicely

I left us here ...

Intensified the streaky background ...

Removed the masking ...

And am starting the geese.


The vertical streaks of color seem to compliment the long necks of the geese; it's  interesting without being overwhelming. The geese are fun to work on - they've almost started to develop personalities for me [OR maybe I've been looking at them too long  :) ]
I'll have to leave them for 2 days - long hours over a hot mouth [dental office work] I had a call out of the blue yesterday, asking if I could work today in another office. Knowing the dentist and her somewhat difficult personality, their hygienist probably quit, but I shouldn't think negatively. It's a job, and money to pay for my vices -  horses and painting.
By the way, Bruno has been a superstar lately, listening so well and performing so beautifully. I am thrilled with him!  :)  :)  :) 

NOT the Christmas Goose ...

Just a few sketches I'm playing with while the painting composition percolates in my head. I am really keen to do something, or several somethings, with geese.

Loose as a Goose

Quite like this one

They have the strangest-looking beaks. I't hard to get a good interpretation, but I will.


Before I started work on Buddy this AM, I thought I would do some very loose painting. I sketched, free-hand on wc. paper,  some goose images. Then just wet them, and let the paint go. I think this style will work for the goose paintings I'd like to do soon.

The Goose Hunt

Where I get my real farm-fresh fruits and veggies.
You can just make out the North Shore mountains in the distance.

First stop ... ducks

Some attractive [ie. paintable] peppers

Another paintable, gourdish plant

Geese and goslings

My favorites, so big and handsome and low-slung

This should make an interesting painting

All in a row


I set out to get some greens this afternoon, and, as always, passed a small farm I have been meaning to visit for years.  They have poultry, most importantly - geese. So I pulled in and tried to find the owner. A Chinese woman eventually appeared, speaking almost no English [and me, no Cantonese]. I think she gave me an OK to take photos of the geese, so  off I went. I waded through muck and soft soil to find a way into their pens, and it was worth it! Of course, they weren't into posing, so I had to be very quiet and still, down on my knees, to get some shots, and then quietly and unobtrusively follow them around. But I have my goose photos. I find them so handsome and awkward at the same time - love them.

My shoes, after the great goose hunt.