Cows 4 - Progress

StephanHM

Howdy everyone, it's currently -29c [-20.2f] with a wind chill of -40c [-40f] here in Alberta so I am very much indoors. Been working on a new cow picture, trying to get it done before the deadline of a juried show I will submit it to. Please excuse the poor cell phone photo quality, I will photograph it correctly once I am certain I have nothing to change about it!

Reference:

StephanHM

had to paint over those legs because they were incorrectly placed

today's work:

leaving it be for now. there are a couple things here and there that i have to change before i photograph it [note: there is a lot of work in the black segments of the cows, my phone just doesnt pick them up] and I am also incrementally approaching the idea of painting a landscape. Those aren't my forte, so I figure I can practice landscape painting just as long as i cover the whole thing with animals, haha.

Hope you're all doing well this winter

Richard_P

Ohhh, this is looking great already! Love how you've blocked in the main forms and suggested the key features with little detail.

Excellent!

tassieguy

Looking good. I like the blueish light on their snouts and backs. And I like the simplicity with which you've blocked in the background. 

GTO

They each have their own character.  You’ve captured the texture and sheen of their coats.  The landscape in the back looks good too.

heartofengland

Great source photo and beautifully painted.

One thing, are the hooves of the central cow a little bright for the edge of the painting? Possibly distracting from the faces and landscape.

It's a question not a critique. Photos of paintings are fickle. 

Gary_Heath

That's fantastic.  This may seem ridiculous, but the thing that most impresses me is the way you painted the foreground grass. 

toujours

This is really very impressive.   You have done an excellent job with this in its entirety.   I am pleased you changed the legs.
Love the wet noses, just missing a tongue in the nostril or some drool!
I only hope the Santa bull I am starting soon looks as good as this when it is finished.

MichaelD

Lovely work @StephanHM, and a good idea to leave the wire fence out 

A_Time_To_Paint

This is great @StephanHM.  Enjoyed seeing your process as well.  I believe one of the most difficult things to paint is something all black.  You've done a wonderful job capturing the values.  I really like your painting.  It makes me smile.

joydeschenes

@StephanHM it looks great and I agree that I also enjoyed see your blocking in and process, thank you.  Hope you beat your deadline. 

toujours

Having a not rushed for time look and I would check the leg on the very left of the painting,   It looks kinked and off skew somehow.   If this is for a show, you want it to look realistic and I would hate for that leg to let you down.  Best of luck and please let us know how you get on.

osiosbon

Thats a sellable painting. Admire the attention to detail on the foreground grass, it has added dimension to the work. 

StephanHM

Hi everyone, I first of all want to thank you all so much for your kind words!

I ended up missing the deadline because I misread the date as january 31st instead of the actual due date which was january 30th, a very typical misstep for me to be honest. I am pleased that I was able to finish it in a timely manner though, so I am not too upset about missing the show.

@toujours you are correct about that leg looking weird, it was there in the source but the other half of the leg was covered by fence so I missed out on some context there. Since it's not in the show I have plenty of time now to adjust the shape, so I'll deal with that in some way. Best of luck on your santa bull!

@heartofengland I will have a good hard look at it, since you mentioned it.

About grass: Thanks to everyone who commented on my grass! It was really difficult at first, but as I'm currently focusing on cattle as my subjects it has become a necessity to paint grass somewhat convincingly. I did take a lot of cues from Andrew Tischler's youtube videos, he paints really nice landscapes. I also use this really busted up bristle fan brush to put the grass pieces on there. There's about 50% of the bristle missing from it and I'll be real sad when the other half of the bristles get worn off finally.

I will post the final version soon!