http://www.ArtworkbyAnnI am a fan of all things western. Especially horses. There's a certain spirit about them that beckons to me. To be wild and run free. I wanted to portray this horse in such a way, almost mystical. I left the background diffused, out of focus. The horse with the flowing mane and tail, radiant, wild and free.
This painting was done from several photos taken at a cattle round up. I have gone to a few of these round ups and there is always a steer or an older cow that just doesn't want to go through the shutes. I suppose they don't like getting shots either. This steer was giving the cowhands a hard time. I think the only one that liked it was the dog. Cow dogs love their job. He really did a good job of helping to get that steer back. The horses too. Just the pressure of the riders knee against the horses side or a slight tug on the reins and the horse knows what to do. It didn't take long to get this steer back toward the pen to go through the shute.
This painting was done over the weekend. I had gone to a cattle roundup and took tons of photos. It was late spring/early summer, felt mostly like summer. There were cowboys and cowgirls, yep, cowgirls too. It was time to inoculate them and put an insecticidal oil on them. While the cattle were being given their shots these two bulls are off in the background horsing around or I should say being bullish. I had gotten some interesting shots of these two bulls. They were completely oblivious to all that was gouing on with the other cattle. That's probably a good thing. Those two fellas are huge. Just goes to show, boys will be boys, no matter what form of life.
Well, here is my last painting session on this piece. I did more of the detail work on the longhorns by touching up on the body, faces and horns and leaving the undertone to show through on the underside of the belly, legs and faces. The undertone is thinly applied in the beginning process. By leaving some of the undertone showing I think it brings a glow to the painting. The light areas are applied with thicker paint. The "white" on the longhorns is actually a very pale orange and a pale blue. These colors make the animals appear very white in those areas. Longhorns are majestic looking animals to me. These particular longhorns appear very docile and the sun has warmed them enough that they look sleepy. Kinda like people. At least for me. It's like on a cool crisp day and your outside in a lawn chair enjoying the day and the sun warms you...I get so sleepy. I think that's what happening to these longhorns. The one on the right looks a little perturbed though, something roused him from his potential nap. Now the hard part, naming this painting. 
My next painting session, my coffee break lasted long enough and I guess that load of clothes can wait to be folded. I am starting to define the cows more and the midground and the foreground.
Today I thought I would post the process of a pinting. I haven't got a name for this painting yet. That will come later. I find it harder to name a painting than to paint it. There are a couple of gal painters that I follow, Debbie Grayson Lincoln and Vernita Bridges Hoyt. The names of their paintings always seem to fit perfectly...
This little watercolor sketch was done at my daughter's house on July 4th weekend. I was there for several days prior to the 4th as they say to "beat the traffic". It was a very enjoyable and relaxing time to visit with family. I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable time also. Now, if this Texas heat would just let up for a while at least........I am already thinking of cooler weather.
