“Cowgirl” From Start To Finish
Cowgirl
Oil Pastel on Handmade Paper
10 1/2″ x 13″
So here she is all finished and framed (and a little crooked. Mental note: always use a tripod.) I really like her and will be making some prints of her shortly.
I decided to call her Cowgirl. My husband suggested Flaming Cow. But after my Flaming Sheep viagra spam fiasco, (I don’t know if the title and huge spamage are related. But if they are, what exactly does that mean?) I am hesitant to go down that road again. Besides I think Cowgirl is far more clever and amusing.
Early stages
I started to throw in some really bright oranges and yellows and I’m liking them.
I’m beginning to love the bright colors and start replacing some of my more “normal” coloration.
And finally, the actual scanned (not just a slightly out of focus photo like I usually post) completed image.
I love your Cowgirl! I think the name is great too!
Ok, silly question coming up (just humour me), do cows have two sets of ears?
Uuummmm. . . cows only have one set of ears. (Actually made me giggle/snort when I read your question.) I looked at my painting and I’m guessing you are confusing the horns as ears? Perhaps? She was a longhorn which I just cropped out to pull her closer.
Beautiful, love it. The colors, texture and her look are GREAT. You make me want to pick up those OP’s, maybe after Christmas.
Sorry, I have missed so much in such a short time. Going back to some of the posts I have missed. Angela
Ah, I see! Sorry, I said it was a silly question! Not spent much time with cows in my life time
I didn’t know some cows had horns. You learn something new everyday!
Thanks Mona. Glad it made you smile anyway!
Angela Have you been busy working on all those commission jobs? How’s the portrait of kids coming along?
I’ve been kinda cranking the posts out lately. Kinda on a roll.
Undaunted Yup, I think at one time all cows had horns. Some breeds it has been bred out of and others have their horns removed (don’t ask, you really don’t want to know how) when they are calves. But “Cowgirl” is a longhorn and they get to keep their horns. (Lucky, lucky them.)
I showed the portrait to the client yesterday, at first she said she loved it. Then when we were talking about the final varnish and I said something about no changes can be made after varnishing, she said she wanted the little girl’s eyes to be bigger/less squinty. I left it that I would return with it completed and framed with that change, but good customer service would dictate that I show her the change first, just bit of a drive, elderly and do not use the computer. I may call her and ask what she prefers (with the hope she just says bring it finished — but probably won’t). Here is a posting of the portrait process, got some help from wet canvas. Posted what I showed her at the end, will change the eyes back to more the first version:
http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=530469
Angela
Angela Nice! especially considering the ref photo. I think the finished portarait looks really good. I also think you nailed (as in got them exactly as they appear in the ref) the eyes. But I imagine it won’t be too big a leap to open them up a bit.
So how was the experience overall? Are you going to do more people?
Wow, I took a look too! That photo is horrendous! Apart from the obvious damage, I even think the photo looks really flat in places. I think you’ve done a fantastic job!
I was saying to someone the other night how I think colour portraits must be really hard to do because there are so many variations in the skin tone - but it must be even harder working from a black and white photo! I’d like to give it a go at some point but I’m still working on getting the pencil portraits right at the moment!