back in the saddle

Well, after a relatively long break for some annual freelance work, I’ve been painting for the last week or so. It’s been good to get the brushes dirty again.

I’ve finished a nice little piece tonight. It’s based on some photo reference I took last winter, but this one has been in the back of my mind since then so last night and tonight I made it happen. Hopefully more to come soon.

got milk?

Just finishing up a large piece of a bunch of cows in a pasture. To me this is the essence of summer in the country, and I knew I wanted to paint it the minute I saw this scene. It’s a rather large one, I believe 52×24″ so it should command some nice attention once it’s framed. It was a time consuming piece. There are a total of 16 milkers, and that’s a lot of anatomy to to consider, but I learned a lot from this one, and it gave my patience a workout. I have a tendency to start to rush things once the end is in sight, so it was a challenge to give that last cow the same level of attention and finish work as the first.

Hoping to get this one down to the gallery as soon as it’s dry.

Spring has Sprung

It’s been a crazy busy week of yard and landscape projects. A schedule of working outside after supper till dark, then inside at the easel till late, has been the norm.

I’ve been loving how things are getting greener, and have been aiming for he Spring feel in the latest paintings.

I think I’m pretty much done with this one. It’s based on a photo I took years ago actually, but just recently found after going through some old shots. I’ll probably put a few more touches on it, but I’m happy with the outcome.

New Diggs

Well, I’m settling in to my new painting set up. It took a while to get the lighting arranged, but we’re up and going. I’m working on a larger version of a study I did a while back. The small (9×12) version turned out so well, I thought I’d blow ‘er up.

It’s been a challenge. Things that worked as a small brush stroke in the smaller piece now have to be orchestrated into a coherent passage in the larger painting. It’ going reasonably well tho, and I’m confident she’ll pull together in the end;)  I’ll post both for comparison when this one is done.