Come Fly With Me!

Along with fashionable Poppy-fields and Sunflowers a lot of Artists I know are painting Cows, or have done over the last while. So here I go:

Sketching out an image (A big heavy 'Bullock' leaping across a farmyard) which has been running through my head for quite sometime- an idea similar to that of Franz Marcs' joyous 'Yellow Cow'. Sketched the Beast flying on the diagonal of a large Canvas, 100cm squared.

A table-full of happy hues!

Pleased with my composition I apply some quick washes of colour, covering the whole of the canvas.

Painting after first sitting

Tidying up a little and beginning to overlay paint and define colours, working from background to foreground making any necessary adjustments along the way. I Change my sky completely as a thought comes to mind- I paint the Cow leaping from the 'Blue' of the sky into the 'White' of the sky on the left of the Canvas, towards my light source. I then pull the white paint horizontally through the Cow back towards the right-side of the canvas. When finished this should create some subtle lines of movement around the Cow, propelling her forward.

In large quick strokes I paint the fields, changing the direction from one field to another and again pulling the white paint in from the left. Started on the cow’ first balancing the colour with that of the changed colours in the bottom of the canvas, before continuing with anatomy.