Sometimes You Just Need To Paint Cows

I love cows.  I grew up in the country in Maryland and there were always cows looking at us in the morning from the fields beside our home.  Of course, there were the ones who thought the grass looked greener on our side of the fence and would break it down and be watching us eat breakfast on our back porch. 

Sometimes I tone my canvas, and other times, like this, I just do a quick sketch and get down to painting.  I like to work from back-to-front and darks (shadows) - to - light.  So, in this case, I worked on the sky first since that is behind the cows, and I threw in some clouds with character, then I layed in the darkest-darks on Bessy and her friends.

Here is my palette table set up and ready to work.

 

Here, I worked on Bessy - mid-tones, shadows, reflective light on the underside of her chin, and sunlight hitting her face, hair, and top of her neck.

After I worked on Bessy, I moved on to the shy little fella beside her and the shadows cast by the crew of cows on the grass.

Coming right along, I added the sunlight on the grass.

Next, I worked on the cow in the middle, adding some violet tones to the shadows on his coat.

Here is a closeup of Bessy's face

And here is a closeup of the middle cow.

I kinda like her hair!

 

And here they are ready to join you for breakfast. 

Now, don't you think Bessy & Company would look great over your fireplace?

Bessy & Company
30 x 40 Oil on Handstretched Canvas
Unframed
850.00