A couple of weeks ago, while on a bike ride near the town of Orting, Washington, I passed a field of grazing cattle. I stopped and snapped a few photo references. Mostly the cattle either ignored me or looked at me with blank stares. This triple dose of cow stares was my initial inspiration for this little 5x7 inch oil painting. I began with a wash of red iron oxide. White, ultramarine blue, and a touch of alizarin crimson finished out the limited palette. I had planned on placing the cows in the green field in which they were originally found, but after reaching this stage in my painting, I stopped. I like the warm red which reminds me of a hot dusty afternoon somewhere in the Southwest, a place I'd rather be right now as opposed to molding in the wet of the Pacific Northwest. When it dries, it will join some of my other animal paintings at Small Impressions Gallery. Technorati tags:
American Oil Painting, animal painting, Animal portrait, canvas panel, Contemporary Oil Painting, Cow painting, Cow portrait, Farm Animal Painting, Livestock painting, original artwork, Original small artwork, Orting Valley, Orting, Washington, Pacific Northwest, Pacific Northwest Artist, Pacific Northwest Painter, painterly, Small Cow Painting, small format oil painting, small format painting, Small Oil Painting, small study
