Apples of Gold in Settings of Silver

Recently I was asked by an old friend whether or not I had a CD or demo available about how I paint cows. Since I don't have one, I told her I would do a blog post about it. This is it!

I start with a 6x6 Ampersand Gessobord which I tone with Cad Red Light and Gamsol. Sometimes I make it redder, sometimes not. This one is kind of varied. I like to do this way ahead of time. I'll tone a bunch of panels at once and then when I want to paint a cow, I have a dry toned panel.

Here you can see I have an image on my laptop which I can zoom in and out of. Also, as I'm beginning the drawing, I find it helpful to use my brush to determine the angle of the head. I also do this with the eyes or brow line, so my first strokes are these two angles, making a cross on my panel.

I do a very rough drawing using Cad Red Light, just trying to get the gist of where things go without making it too tight. I like to leave myself wiggle room.

Next I mix up the cool (shadow areas) and warm (sunlit areas) of white hair and the cool (shadow areas) and warm (sunlit areas) of the  black hair. As I'm doing this, I make a point of getting my white shadow colors dark enough to read as shadows and getting my sunlit black hair light and warm enough to read as sunlit. Ideally the paint used for the white hair in shadow will be darker than the paint used for the black hair in sunlight. Or at least, the same value. Also, this photo doesn't show it very well, but those warm whites are quite yellow and tan. I know I can punch it up at the end if I want to, but it won't work if I don't start with some fairly colorful mixes.

Next I block in the white shadows, using the different mixes. Very loose and blocky. I squint at my reference because I only want the general shapes and no detail.

I usually go on to block in the black hair shadows, then the white lights and then the black hair lights. It doesn't really matter the order, that's just what works for me. It keeps my shadow and lit areas separate. As you can see, I don't do much specifics anywhere yet. Even on the eyes.

Now it starts to get fun as I begin refining the shadows by alternating between darker and lighter color to define or give the feel of hair and texture. I try to make my brush strokes simply go the direction the hair grows. Stay loose.

About now I put in the background, very loose, bold brushstrokes, coming close to the head, but trying not to cover it. I like to leave a bit of the toned panel showing through. After I get the background in, I come back wherever I need to, with expressive strokes. I also spend some focused time and strokes getting the eyes just the way I want them. Once I have it, I leave them alone. Same for the nose and mouth. More often than not, less is more at this point. As I heard someone say, "Better 10% left undone, than 2% overdone"! 

This is what my mixtures look like at this point. You can see that I borrow and mix from pile to pile. I have a lot of paint left and think I should be doing another cow to use it up! But it's better to have too much than to have to stop and mix more!

Black Baldy Calf, 6x6, oil on panel $125

TA-DA! The finished cow, and as my husband says, it isn't done till it's signed! I hope this was helpful to you. 

My paint colors were Cad Red Light, Cad Yellow, Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue, and Titanium White.

I used a Silver Grand Prix Flat Bristle #2 for drawing, a Silver Grand Prix Flat Bristle #4 for painting, although I often use a #6 and a very small Langnickel Royal Sable for the eye details. I use Gamsol as a solvent. I never use a medium because I always forget to use it after the first few strokes.

Happy Painting!