Portrait of a Cow in her Winter Coat

I wiped this panel of the image from the previous post and started over. This was what I wanted to paint in the first place, so it is just as well that the other one didn't turn out.  The heavy winter coat on this Hereford showed interesting shades of rusty brown. The white fur in shadow against the white snow in sunlight begged to be painted and the contrast of the grayed distant trees promised to give me depth. 

12" x 6" oil on stretched canvas

American White Park Calf

Demo from the art Center in Burlington during the sidewalk sales. Enjoyed talking to the shoppers. I picked this subject because the kids like animals. 

11" x 14" oil on canvas panel

Three Up

These three were on the side of the hill far enough away that they did not notice me. I cropped the photo to single them out.The challenge was the one in front. I just wish that she was facing me when she scratched.

6 x 6 oil on panel to bid at auction

Heading to Shelter

This composition was created from several photos of cattle. 

16 x 20 oil on Raymar panel

Hide and Seek, 1, 2, 3...

 I thought this composition was challenging. It did take me a couple of wipe offs to get it to this point.

I also liked the way this cow appeared to be speaking.  I think she is counting and the other two are looking for a place to hide. They were in a pasture with lots of  rolling hills and a creek winding though it; great places to hide. This reminded me of playing at my cousins' farm many years ago.

12 x 12 oil on gessoed board

All Pose for the Camera

I wiped this a couple of times before I was satisfied with the results. After wiping away one of the distant cattle I had second thoughts. I wish my paintings had Control Z to undo. I am happier with the cow that I moved and painted again. Sometimes if it isn't working you have to bite the bullet and try again. This was one of the hardest things I had to learn, especially after the first time I tried it and it was worse than the original. I ended up ripping the watercolor painting and throwing it away. I have to chalk it up to learning the hard way. You can make it worse but that is just another learning experience. 

6 x 6 oil on panel to bid at auction

Snow in the Pasture One Cow

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My artist friend Gin Lammert had an exhibit at the Fort Madison Art Center and as part of the opening reception she asked her fellow artists to paint. We had six artists painting and a nice crowd watching; all having a good time. My friend Carroll squeezed out some new paint colors for me to try, see the lovely blue next to the cow's head. I think that color was Caribbean Blue. 

9 x 12 oil on canvas

One Calf Following

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The last two painting were studies for larger pieces. I would like to make an 8 x 16 of this 6 x 12. Maybe someday I will paint a 16 x 32. 

6 x 12 oil on canvas to bid click here

Cow in the Snow

Usually I like the cow to face towards the inside of the painting, but when I was cropping this the background worked better from this side. I did take out the fence. I have seen a lot of great paintings with the fence when the elements are placed correctly. 

6 x 6 oil on canvas to bid at auction

Snow in the Pasture

The blue of the snow shadows against the red brown of a Hereford's wooly coat makes a nice contrast.

6 x 6 oil on canvas to bid click here

Cattle no 34 and 15

When photographing cattle they seem to always look at you. 

8 x 6 oil on canvas

One Spotted Me

I have painted this pasture before. I went back this summer for this view. I usually edit the trees and move the cows around even the one looking this way was a little bit higher and to the left.

12 x 6 oil on canvas

Moeller's Cow

My cousins had a milk farm. I remember helping them bring the cows up for milking which I thought was fun. They had one cow that was so gentle they could ride her back to the barn.

6 x 6 Oil on Raymar panel

Resting Pair

I had to crop this image from a photo of a much larger one. When I approach cows up close they tend to get up. Maybe I need a cow blind.

6.5 x 7.5 Watercolor on 140 lb paper

Three Cows

This reference photo is what prompted me to paint these cows. I still needed to edit the photo. I selected the three cows on the left and took out the partial cow on the end and changed the background. In the painting the cow on the upper right pulls you into the painting, then the shadow from the cow below moves the eye around to the heads of the other two with the shadow from the cow on the far left to pull you back up to the top cow.

 6x6 inch oil on Raymar panel $50 Buy

Midwest Landscape no.4

I spent a little more time on this painting.

I used Photoshop to move the cows and the tree on the right to get the composition the way I want it.