Complementary Cow

Named because she's orange and blue, which are complementary colors. This is a simple line drawing in blue, on gessoed mat board. I then filled in the shadow areas with French Ultramarine Blue, and used cad orange over the entire cow. I picked out a few details on the eye and nose. I love cows noses.

She's varnished for protection, so she's very durable. The matte varnish gives the painting such a soft, glowing effect. She's aprox 8X10 in size.

I suppose it's because I've been painting cattle lately but I had the strangest dream last night. I was trapped in an extremely steep concrete stairway with a herd of holstein cows. Like most milk cows, they're so used to people, they get right up close to you.

In the middle of this staircase, was a hand rail, and there were hand rails on the side. It was so steep, I had to use the hand rail to pull myself up as I went along. The rail was covered with cow manure, the stairs were slick from the cattle being there. I was trying to get us all out.

As I climbed the stairs, cows would follow me with their noses at my back. Once in a while, a cow that made it to the top, would slide back down and come shooting by. It was a very weird dream! In my dream, they got dirty and wet, but they didn't get hurt.

I finally made it to the top, and opened a door. On the other side of the door, was a huge pit, it was only about 2 feet across it, but I was afraid if the cows jumped the pit, they might fall in and break legs. At the top of the stairs, two cows had calved and the calves were huddled on stairs, about to fall off. I knew I had to get them all out so I opened the door, jumped and held the door open for the cows.

The farmer who owned the cows was on the other side, when we all came out from the stairway, he looked so surprised, and he said, "So that's where they were !"

I told you this was a weird dream. I think it was prompted in part by Daisy, our donkey. She follows us so close when we're outside, if we stop, she bumps into us. I love to go walking along and stop about every 10 steps. She thumps into my back every time. It always makes me laugh that she doesn't pay better attention. So climbing that staircase, and feeling the cows noses at my back, had to come from the way Daisy follows me.

Years ago, I milked cows for a guy who had 300 cows milking. It took me all night to milk them, then the day guy came on board and the milking of the herd started over again. One night when I went to work, a cow was missing. I told my boss about it and asked if she was in a sick pen . He said he didn't think any cows were missing and if there were, how could I tell?

I was off work for two days, and came back to milk again. The cow was still missing. So I told him again, you're missing a cow. He told me again, he didn't think he was, and he doubted if I would know. So I didn't say anymore about the missing cow.

A month later, I came to work and my boss met me at the barn door. He said, "Do you remember that cow you told me was missing?" I said, "yes,", he said, "Well, I found her, she got locked in an old shed, the wind must have blown the door shut on her and the latch came down. She's dead."

So I think my dream came partly from that memory also, of knowing the lost cow was locked in a shed and couldn't get out. It was 30 years ago when that happened and I still think of her.

This painting sold.
donna

An update....

I updated this painting. I gave it some medium tones on the horse, a better face to the jockey, changed the score board.....I like it better now. This is 12X16, acrylic.

Just a note, I was painting away one day in the studio, not paying attention where my paint was going, and spatters flew all over this painting, ruining it completely! That's the life of an artist! ;)

Old 34, red angus cow.

"Old 34". The cow everyone's wary of! Watch out if you're tagging her calf, watch out when she's in the corral...there's at least one on every ranch. They're a little high headed, they're always watching to know where you are, they run when you enter the pasture.

But we keep them, because they raise the biggest calf in the herd.

I loved painting this cow. She's done in watercolor on a gessoed mat board. She's aprox 8X10 inches in size and I'm asking $350 for her (the original) professionally framed. It was invited to the Grand National Celebration of Western Art, at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. I shipped it there last week!

I thank you for stopping by. I 'd like to hear your comments or questions, it's real easy to leave me a comment....just click the comments link below.

Stop by my website for horse art and Montana scenery.
donna

Practise.....

The Mystery of Practice

The following article, somewhat revised, is from one of my first newsletters back in 1999. It is still one of my favorites. Enjoy.

For my 40th birthday (yikes! That was 14 years ago.), I gave myself voice lessons. It was a rude awakening. I had always loved to sing, and now I discovered that I couldn't open my mouth properly, articulate vowels correctly, or make my tongue lie at the bottom of my mouth. I wanted to quit.

Fortunately I didn't, and that is how I realized the mystery of practice. I had always thought that practice meant repeating something correctly. (I used to believe that I was not competitive, but then I realize that it's just that I avoid things I can't do well.)

It is humbling to encounter one's limitations on a daily basis. Fortunately, it is not fatal. Bit by but I became more present when practicing, if only because there was no benefit in looking at my past performance (mediocre) or anticipating future progress (entirely theoretical). With no alternative, I practiced for the sake of practicing.

Eventually, my vowels emerged with some clarity and -- wonder of wonders -- my tongue began to obey. But best of all, I had learned to practice without knowing if I could succeed. In fact, I learned that letting go of the results was the secret to improvement.

What can you practice today that you are not already a master of?

This article originally appeared in the Authentic Promotion e-zine and is reprinted with permission from the author. Molly Gordon is president of Shaboom Inc., a coaching and training company that delivers hope, help, and hilarity to Accidental Entrepreneurs so that they can build a business that fits just-right. For more information, visit http://www.shaboominc.com. Copyright 2007, Shaboom Inc. All rights reserved.

See more posts here on Molly's site.

In light of the fact I've been practising the 2 hour paintings, this article seemed extremely appropriate!

"NOW" Thoroughbred race horse and jockey.

I call this painting "NOW". In the actual photo, on the score board, the word now was written. What I liked about seeing it there, is how it helps you see, this horse and this jockey in this given point in time. The race is done. Win or lose, it's over. All that matters is the effort you made and the way you feel at this instant...right "NOW"....

The fact this painting was done in two hours adds to the moment, you can tell from the fast brushstrokes, it was a now moment for the artist also.


This is a little more work on it. This was the point at which the two hours was up. After this, I put in another 15 minutes to finish it off. So I can't say I was done in two hours, but I was close! I wanted this horse to have a mane, so you could tell he was still moving swiftly and I fixed a few little things on the jockey. Gave him eyes, thinned down the fat part of his arm, and kind of fixed his leg.

I switched to acyrlic paints here. This painting was done as part of the two hour challenge in an art group I belong to. It's so interesting to know you can create most of a painting in two hours. I think if I keep practising, I'll become more adept at this. I also think, I'll get some better colors going as I continue.
This photo was the beginning of this painting. I laid in some shapes and colors with watercolor. This painting is on a stretched 16X20 canvas. You can see where I stood the painting up to take it's picture, before the last strokes of paint were dry, it ran down the shoulder of the horse!

As always, there's more horse art on my website...Thanks for stopping by and I hope you're enjoying your Christmas season. I like remembering this is Jesus birthday.

Black Arabian study.

I don't know what to say about this one. I think I need more practice!
donna
You can see more horse art on my website.

Dressage horse, 2 hour challenge.

Here, you see the beginning of the painting. This is the first 10 minutes or so. I'm painting with watercolor on a stretched canvas. They look pretty funny at first! I'm using a big brush and putting in some main shapes. This is a fairly large painting, 16X20".


Now, I'm drawing in some lines and defining the image a little better. This is about 25 minutes into the painting.



This was about 45 minutes into the painting. The horse's head was to small, so I added onto it.


Here's the finished painting. I used acrylic on the background, and the painting will be varnished to finish it and protect the surface. You'll be able to find it for sale on ebay.
Thanks for stopping by! I hope your holiday season is happy and your New Year Happy!
There's more horse art and equine art on my website.