This Saturday I participated in the Paint Marceline plein air competition. This event was organized by the North Missouri Arts Council. They supplied a map of possible locations, which saved a lot of time driving around sizing up the scenery. I stopped off at this century farm and as I was walking around the owner came home. When I asked about cattle, he very kindly drove me and my gear out to where the cattle were cooling off in a mud pit under a hedge apple tree... perfect. I liked the tree that caught my attention first and then I quickly saw the cattle. I always wanted to paint plein air in a cattle pasture and the owner assured me they were friendly, but watch out for the cow patties. They did stick around long enough for me to sketch a few of them. The mud was another challenging element. I soon found that when dropped off in a distant cattle pasture in the hot sun I needed to plan better; I forgot bug spray, sun scene and something to drink. I guess it encouraged me to paint fast.
14" x 11" oil on canvas
