Monday, July 28, 2014

Cow Painting - Ms July

20x30 Original Oil on Canvas
Cheri Wollenberg
Ms July is a Hereford cow.  I enjoy painting Herefords with colors in the natural environment of Oklahoma.  The soil where I live is very red and the greens of the pastures, trees, and grass are complementary in color schema.  In the winter the cattle graze on the wintered gray and beige grasses in pastures that accentuate their coats that have become dark rust in color and hairy.  The blues and grays of distant trees create a beautiful palette.  Reflections of the variety of moods in the sky complete beautiful color to translate to a canvas.  Ms July is listed in my Etsy store.....here!

Saturday, July 26, 2014

George - Painting of Multi-Colored Goat

14x14 Original Oil on Canvas
Cheri Wollenberg
George is "George of the barnyard" instead of the jungle!  He is another one of the goats that my son photographed.  I think I've had more fun than he did as he shot the images!  He said there were so many of them that it was impossible to take photographs of each one individually.  He said it was a most enjoyable event:)  I certainly love painting them.  George has so many rustic sienna shades, natural and earthy shades that are so raw or un-man-made.  I may go in and touch some of the brightest (not lightest) shades of the sienna colors because they really need some variation.  In the natural light (not the photo) I'm sure they were almost orange to light yellow ochre.  This is really the problem with doing things from photos....you really can't see the shades accurately; however, you can do a lot of interpretation and expression......thus the fun of being the Painter!  George is listed in my Etsy store.  Just a click away!!!!

Friday, July 25, 2014

White Goat Painting - Charlie

10x20 Original Oil on Canvas
Cheri Wollenberg
What fun it was to paint Charlie!  He is a white goat with long, twisting horns.  His long white hair is layered in dozens of shades of whites that reflect his surroundings and the natural pinks of his skin.  I decided to paint him on this very oblong format to enhance the nature and design of his horns. I must tell you that he is from a photo that my son took of dozens of these kind of goats.  I do not know how he could keep form getting tangled up with all of the other ones because they all looked alike!!!!  Beautiful and enticing design for compositions of all kinds.  Design elements and principles examples galore!!! Charlie can be found in my Etsy store.  Take a look here.

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Cow Painting - Tess

18x18 Oil on Canvas
Cheri Wollenberg
Tess is a white faced cow with large spots around her eyes. She has a black nose and her hair comes out of two cow licks.  Her long face gives wins her a look of esteem or respect from a viewer.  I get tired of using the same backgrounds of blues and greens when painting so many cows so I like to change things up and try some other colors.  In the photograph I was painting from she was surrounded by some Hereford cows and their coats of rusty reds gave the idea that the rusty sienna, gold, orange and umbers would be interesting.  Give her a look in my Etsy store.  Have a good day:)

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Cinnamon The Cow - Now Better Than Ever!

16x20x1 Original Oil on Canvas
Cheri Wollenberg
I painted Cinnamon the Cow several months ago.   I liked painting her but there was something that bothered me, and I couldn't quite pin point the problem. She has lots of texture in her red, Hereford coat and face.  Her hair is thick and curly.  The picture I painted was from a photo I took during winter which explains her rich, thick coat.  Part of the reason I couldn't see where the problem was because I focused too much on her beautiful coat. I loved the hair and enjoyed expressing the texture of her coat so much that I jeopardized the design of the painting.  The image below is of the painting before I tweaked her.  Her neck was wrong, her eyes were wrong and the turn of her eyes were wrong!!!!!!  Oh my goodness....it has taken 6 months to figure out all this and I have corrected those things the last several days.  I'm a "happy camper" artist now.  I still adore the curly, thick hair.  Below is an image of her previously.  Compare and send me comments.  I welcome them.  She can be found in my Etsy store here.
Have a good weekend!
Cheri

Poppy The Pig, Original Oil Painting by Cheri Wollenberg

Poppy Original 8x8 Oil Painting On Canvas by Cheri Wollenberg   Poppy is pig who might be hungry and waiting on his master to bring corn or ...