Texas Gold ~ Texas Longhorn Cow oil painting demonstration

Texas Gold ~ 9" x 12" oil on canvas panel

I think I've mentioned before that a man down the road from us has Texas Longhorns. They're such a fascinating animal. They look so powerful and intimidating, but in actuality they're quite gentle and sweet natured.  Unfortunately, we live far from Texas, on the rainy West Coast of B.C., and light like this just doesn't happen. I tried to imagine and convey the heat and intensity of a summer Texas sunset in this one, as I don't think the mist and cedar trees of Bella Coola are a fitting environment for these magnificent beasts. For sale now at Daily Paintworks, click HERE to take you to the auction page.

Below, I've showed a few of the steps that I took in creating this painting. I know I should take more pics but I get so into what I'm doing that I forget to stop to show you my progress.

                         

Step 2 ~ about halfway done...I'm working out the shadow of the cow, and experimenting with the color of the background, adding some lights and mid tones, throwing in touches of pure color to excite the eye...(I hope, lol!)

Step 1 ~ the first block in. I do the darks first, working out the composition...It's much easier to work darks into light than the other way around. I find that the darks provide the framework, and it's everything on top that adds form.