Nov 11, 2010

Losing the muse

“Feeding”
 “Rear View”
“Holding it in”
 “Dos Oreos”
“Solo Oreo”

Yesterday the Lord of Plein Air commanded me, “Go to your room and paint twenty cow paintings.” I painted twenty-four.

When most artists lose their muse, they paint dogs. I paint cows. After spending a frustrating two hours trying to find parking near the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I decided I’m outta here and drove up to Fearrington Village near Pittsboro. Painting in the country sounded real appealing to me. Amongst other things, Fearrington Village is known for its Galloway cows, cows that appear to have white corsets around their mid sections. For this reason, they’ve acquired the nickname “Oreo Cows”. Click Mooving subjects to see my attempt earlier this year to paint them in oils.
Painting live animals on location has its challenges. As the afternoon moved on, my sketches became more anatomically correct. Focusing on shapes and the relationship of body parts, one to the other, was key.

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