Red Buffalo Painting WIP
Well here she is pretty much at the stage where I finished the demo. I have made some progress and will post that tomorrow before we leave for yet another event.
Woolly Bully
I really would have liked to call this piece by that title, but alas she is a cow (i.e. not a bull.) I had pondered pretending she was a bull, because when looking at the finished painting, like who would know. (well now all of you would, but still that’s pretty good odds) And she’s got a thick coat yet as the reference photos were taken in early spring and she was still sporting her winter attire. But I figured there is always someone who knows the difference and trust me, they will call me on it. So for now she is just known as the Red Buffalo.
Living in Rapid City I spent allot of time in the state parks out there and have hundreds of stunning buffalo pics to choose from. I chose her because she isn’t stunning and (not so much in my primary reference photo) because of her wild eyed looks. As a wild eyed female myself I could relate and instantly bonded with her.
I bumped up the red color in this photo though when painting I just used my washed out versions. I added a horn just to help her be more recognizable as a buffalo. These bright critters tend to throw people off a bit.
I get allot of, “Is that a sheep?”
Me “Yes”
Them “Are they really that color?”
Me “No”
Them “Um . . . ”
The nice thing is my crayola critters sell really well. So at least some people get them. Or is it they get me? Hm.
I included this shot just to illustrate the bulgy-eyed one horned wonder that she is. Don’t you just love her? I’ve always had a thing for imperfect critters. Somehow they seem more real and have more personality.
Note: The crayola critters reference is just what I currently refer to them as, in private. I’m pretty sure that is a seriously big time trade mark infringement if I were to use that regularly. So Um . . . just forget I ever mentioned it. Seriously, I really do plan to come up with a title to help distinguish these guys from my “other” work. Wild Things perhaps? Hm . . . needs work.
Tags: WIP
I love it! So that’s why she didn’t have a horn. I thought it might be that males have horns and females don’t, that it was how you could tell and change her to a bull if you wanted. I like your colourful critters. This is a big change from your natural coloring ones but they’re still so true.
I suppose there are people who think if they see a green sheep in a painting that they get dyed in the wool before shearing or bred that colour.
Anyway, your brighter than life paintings are great. Neon Wildlife? You’ve got me thinking of what to call them — they’re fanciful and great, not least of which because you’ve got the same meticulous shading, detail, accuracy and realism as if you were just doing them in their true colors.
Fun Furs… where the nauga hides…
This is looking good! She is an interesting critter in your story and second photo. I love your colorful OP’s. I came to your site and got to know your art through this style first, so it is how I primarily think of you — though both styles kind of blend together to make you, in my mind. That is, when I see one of your watercolor pencil, “tighter” renderings, I still think you, it is not a jarring departure to me. You still add many interesting bits of color to the local color, now matter the media or style. I look forward to more of the Red Buffalo.
P.S. I hope you can post on my blog someday. I do have it set right now that comments come to me in e-mail first before they are posted on the blog. But I have not gotten any e-mails for any of your comments, as yet, so I don’t think that is the problem. Also, I do have a spotted POA, Cookie, and her grown foal, Dusty (both of whom are for sale to good homes)– she is the spotted one in my last post — so far, Buddy has only starred once.
Robert Fun Furs! HA! That’s pretty good. I like the illiteration. Crazy Critters, Wacky Wildlife. Still liking the Crayola thing. Crayon Critters just doesn’t have the same feel for me. Perhaps it is just my love of crayons that attracts me to that classification.
Angela I have been trying to enter under OpenID but it says it can’t verify my credentials (or something like that) I’ve tried both my blog and website URL. More than likely it is something simple I am missing because I am so computer illiterate. Other than UnDaunted’s I usually am able to leave a comment no problem. (Hers for the longest time I couldn’t get the word verification to come up, but when we switched to linux that corrected and now I can comment. I do get the word verification with yous so yours is a different issue.)
Now that you mention it the facial marking are quite different from Buddy’s. I just assumed it was him.