Hi Subscriber,
The sheep have been my mind and on the easel! And there seem to be endless possibilities and I've only explored a couple. That's why I'm asking for you help. My models belong to my neighbor, who grew up on a sheep ranch in Wyoming. She now keeps a few at their place close to us.
Every time I go for a walk down their road, if the sheep aren't in their pen, they come to see what I'm doing. I usually take photos of them all the way up and all the way back down the road. |
The lambs are especially adorable. One day I watched five of them following a ewe back to the pen area. It was like single file, follow the leader. |
This is one of the reference photos I'm using. They are just so cute! Their thick curly coats are so full of texture, I really can't resist trying to paint them. |
As has become my habit, I started with a pastel study after the first little gouache exploration. There were things I liked and things I wanted to change.
Even though the reference was more of a winter setting, I wanted it to be green for this one and the following one. |
This is the first oil of the idea, sitting on the shelf, drying. There's a bit of glare on the left, but in a way it shows the texture of the paint and linen support. You can see the position of the sheep is a little different and the green is much more muted. Background sheep have been added also.
I'm thinking of using a different background for the larger painting. Something with more distance perhaps, or maybe less distance. That's where your help really comes in.
Here's a couple of scenes for consideration. Which one do you think would be best? |
Both photos, above and below are from up Boxelder Road, just a few miles apart. |
Blue mountains or golden trees and rocky hillside? Do you love one more than the other?I'd love to get your opinion, and if you can tell me why, that would be even more valuable! Thank you ahead of time for chiming in. It really helps! I'm looking forward to hearing from you! Till next time, |
