Clarence Explains How He Became a Steer

Do you think his friends found it shocking?

"Clarence Explains How He Became a Steer"
30x30 oil on canvas

I always liked the captions on Far Side cartoons. That led me to this title. Perhaps my sense of humor is somewhat warped.

Happy 4th on the Farm!

We'll be celebrating a rainy Fourth of July here on the farm, but that's a good thing for crops and cattle. We need the rain, but hopefully it will subside in time for an evening cook-out!

30x40 oil on canvas

This is a large painting that I did three years ago for a young lady who never came to pick it up... that's one reason I don't like commissions! There were a couple of things that bothered me about the painting so I recently reworked the problems and now I'm pleased with it. The large size is perfect to hang over a couch or perhaps in a little boy's nursery.

Another big steer

This time I painted a white steer, probably a Charolais with a bit of Brahma in his background. 

30x30 oil on canvas

He was in the same group of steers as this colorful one I painted a few months ago.

30x30 oil on canvas

When I propped the finished paintings against the fence to photograph them, I was pleased to see that the grass in the paintings blends right in with the real stuff on the ground!

I think they make a nice pair!

Nosy Rosy

And a Workshop on Perspective

My weekly art class takes a month-long "spring break" in March, but our instructor, Charles Brindley,  held a workshop at his art studio in Adairville, Kentucky. It was all about perspective, a subject that has sometimes baffled me. We discussed two kinds of perspective, atmospheric and linear. 

"Nosy Rosy"
16x20 oil on canvas
SOLD

Atmospheric perspective describes lines and objects as they move deeper into the picture. In other words, things in the distant background (like the grass in the painting above) will be less distinct.

Linear perspective, the kind that gives me fits, is absolute; it never changes. You find "eye level" in an object or scene. The further above or below your eye level, the more the horizontal lines slant. Lines above eye level slant down as they move into the distance; lines below eye level slant up. Eventually, all the lines meet at a vanishing point. Confused? So was I! The good news is that you don't have to have perfect perspective in a painting. Just have an understanding of the concept to make things "look right."

I painted Nosy Rosy several years ago and sold her at a local art show. In light of my recent lesson, I think the painting illustrates perspective. "Eye level" is somewhere between Rosy's eyes and nose so the wooden fence slants down as it moves farther away to the right. The wire below eye level slants up as it moves into the distance.

Clear as the mud Rosy was standing in???

Okay, I admit it... that grass in the background was NOT there in the reference photo, but Rosy and I like it better in the painting. Could we be hoping for spring soon?

I'm linking this post to Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday because R is for Rosy! 

Where's the Beef?

Out strolling in Pa's field, of course! I finally finished my first painting from some photos I took of his colorful steers last fall. Then I went to the art store to buy another canvas for a second steer.

30x30 oil on canvas

So... there's beef in the field and on canvas, but it's also in my big blue Le Creuset pot. My daughter made these wonderful beef short ribs when I visited my new granddaughter. They were so good that I came home and made them for Pa. The recipe is easy. You simply brown the meat, add a few ingredients, and pop them in the oven on low heat so they cook slowly. Served over egg noodles, they are delicious! While they're cooking, I can paint another big steer!

My Art Class Friends, Part 2

Christine, a member of my art group whose intricate pencil drawings you saw in my recent post HERE, is struggling with her first ever oil painting. Of course, Christine picked a rather difficult subject... trees! 

Another member of our group, Jo, brought in a finished painting of... you guessed it... trees! Christine was so happy that she could see how Jo painted the leaves, the branches, and the trunks. 

16x20 oil on canvas
by Jo Griffith

Christine wanted to see the details of Jo's painting so I took these close up photos with my phone.

I love all the colors of the leaves. Do you notice how Jo outlined some groups of leaves to make them appear as branches?

The trunks of the trees have details of light and dark bark. Look at those leaves floating in the water... so pretty!

The background foliage is sometimes the hardest part. Jo painted the small bushes in the foreground lighter. The ones that are more distant are darker and less distinct. That makes them look farther away... a cool trick that good artists know!

pencil drawing by Jo

Jo does both oil paintings AND pencil drawings. Her trees are spectacular! Here you can see her working on one with a reference photo beside her work. Be sure to check out her blog JoGriffithArt.com to see more of her work that is for sale!

Another member of our art class is Anita. Like me, she paints mostly for her family and friends. We might be a lot slower than Jo. Knowing Christine, I think she might be joining us in the slow section of our class, but there's nothing wrong with being slow... our art just takes a bit longer, that's all!

unfinished 36x24 oil on canvas by Anita

This painting is for Anita's daughter. In class this week, she was painting candles... hundreds of them! The intricate details take a lot of patience and time but the painting will be beautiful when it's finished!

unfinished 30x30 oil on canvas by Peg

I'm still working on my colorful steer. Sometimes a photo of your work can help you see areas that need more work...  his knee, his neck, and rear legs. It's a work in progress for sure! I'm not satisfied with the background either. Lighter, darker... it's time to experiment! I'll get it finished but I'm in no hurry. I'll just keep working until I'm happy with it!

Addendum: I just found this wonderful blog post at Things That Inspire featuring the art on display at the 2013 Artists Market in Atlanta. There are so many "things to inspire" artists... take a look HERE!

Meet Wayne, Pa's new lead steer

A Replacement for Charlie Brown

About the time we lost Charlie Brown, Pa bought a very gentle, normal-sized Charolais steer. He also bought a group of steers who were a bit wild. They wouldn't come to the barn to get feed. Instead, they'd run the other way. He put the gentle steer in the field with them in hopes of calming them down.

Wayne, early in his career as "lead steer."

Pa struggled. He waffled. Then he caved. He made the deadly mistake of naming the gentle steer. Wayne became the "lead steer" on a trial basis.

That was in 2010, shortly before the wedding of our youngest daughter. At the wedding reception which was held on our farm, the granddaughter of his cousin Mary Ann came up to Pa and asked in her sweet, little girl voice, "Where's Charlie Brown?" 

Pa gently told her, "Charlie Brown is not here any more, but now we have Wayne." Surprisingly, the wedding photographer captured the moment. 

So Wayne stayed, and like his predecessor Charlie Brown, he has been growing and growing.

Wayne is now a lot larger than all his friends.

Wayne is not as shy as CB was. He allows photographs and is friendly enough to come near the fence but he won't let you touch him.

Recently, I took this photo and decided to paint Wayne.

36x18 oil on canvas

I hope Wayne looks more like himself than he did when you saw the underpainting HERE. If he stays around as long as Charlie Brown did, I'm sure Wayne will have a few more portraits done!

I'm linking this post to Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamer. If you'd like to read my earlier post about Charlie Brown, please click HERE.

Charlie Brown, Lead Steer

This is the story of Charlie Brown, a small reddish brown calf born on our farm about 20 years ago. Charlie's mom died when he was only three days old. None of the other cows would adopt him so he became a bottle calf. Our youngest daughter was assigned the task of bottle feeding him twice a day. She was in the fourth or fifth grade at the time and she named him after her favorite cartoon character because... well... he was brown.

Charlie Brown grew up and, much later than he should have, finally abandoned his bottle. He became a steer and joined the herd on the farm. He grew bigger and bigger, but our daughter maintained her affection for CB and admonished her dad, "Be sure you don't sell Charlie Brown!" For some reason, Pa actually listened to her.

Now, I should add here that steers serve no useful purpose on a farm; they are meat animals. It amazed me that Pa agreed to keep Charlie Brown, but his "excuse" was that CB had a purpose. Charlie was the "lead steer." When Pa would call the cattle, CB would lead them up to the barn. This worked great for feeding the cattle or checking on them to be sure nobody was missing, but sometimes Charlie didn't like what happened at the barn. Occasionally, all his friends would be loaded on a truck heading for a feedyard in the west. Poor Charlie was always left behind.

Charlie Brown ate and ate. He grew and grew... and he got smarter and smarter.

Charlie figured out that if he brought the herd to the barn, all his buddies might leave. CB tried a different approach. When Pa would call the cattle to the barn, Charlie Brown started taking them in the opposite direction... to the far corner of the very back field!

But Pa still didn't sell him. He just moved Charlie to a different farm where there was no faraway field. While he had CB on the truck, Pa decided to weigh him. Charlie Brown weighed 2,300 pounds!

By this time, our daughter had gone away to college. Charlie Brown stayed  on the farm even though he no longer served as a lead steer.

Charlie became the star attraction for children who visited the farm. He was a big hit at family reunions.

However, CB must have realized he was a celebrity. He didn't like the paparazzi. He RAN when he saw a camera!

It's hard to run when you're that big! Mostly, Charlie was content to graze with his friends. At 17 years old, he was getting elderly. His teeth were no longer as good and his weight began to drag him down.

An altercation with a much younger bull did him in. Charlie injured his hip.

Winter was coming on and Charlie refused to walk to the barn to get his feed. 

For a while, Pa carried feed to him but he grew worse. Sadly, we knew it was time for Charlie to go.

The next time our daughter was home, we took lots of photos of Charlie with her. We didn't tell her that she was saying good-bye. 

We all miss Charlie Brown so much. He lived a long, long life of luxury compared to most of the steers that come and go on the farm.

We like to say he was "outstanding" in his field!

16x20 oil on canvas

This painting of Charlie Brown now hangs in our dining room. Pa picked out another very gentle steer who has the potential of growing as big as CB. His name is Wayne and you can read more about him later!

I'm linking this post to Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday. The letter L is for Lead Steer!

Wayne and Friend... in their underpaintings!

I started a couple of new paintings today. They're both paintings of cattle on our farm. Here you see a colorful steer... in BLUE! I like to paint the first layer in complimentary colors. This steer is reddish brown so I used blue to add color dynamics.

30x30 oil on canvas, unfinished underpainting

Last year, Pa put together a group of oddly colored steers, and right before they left the farm heading for a feedlot in Nebraska, he had me take photos of them. I'm finally getting around to painting the first one.

Reference Photos

The second painting is of a big gentle steer that Pa named Wayne. Now, it's not often that Pa gives a steer a name. Most get only numbers around here. Pa says naming a steer is bad for business because you usually get attached to them. 

18x36 oil on canvas, unfinished underpainting

That's what happened with Wayne. But before I can tell you Wayne's story and show you the finished painting, I need to tell you about his predecessor, Charlie Brown. Stay tuned for a tale about a 2600-pound lead steer who lived on our farm for seventeen years!

Charolais Cow

Here's a little painting I did of a Charolais cow on our farm. I had a little trouble getting the cow to look just right. Since my husband is a cattle farmer, he's my worst best critic and I trust him to help me with bovine anatomy quite often!

Charolais with Flowers
11x14 oil on canvas

I was finally satisfied with this painting and gave it as a wedding gift. You can't imagine how overjoyed I was when I received a thank you note from the bride. She said the painting was one of their favorite wedding gifts. WOW, that made me feel really good!

One reason I want to paint faster is so I CAN use my paintings as gifts. If I spend weeks or months on a single painting, it becomes too valuable to give away. Yet, it was such a pleasure to give this one as a gift and know it was appreciated and will be enjoyed for a long time.

Isn't that really what art is all about... making other people stop, think and then smile?

It's Roscoe, not Rosie

I live on a farm. In fact, my husband, Pa, is a full time farmer who backgrounds feeder cattle. Since I really like to paint cattle, he is happy to provide me with plenty of subject matter.

This little calf was born on our farm last spring and he ended up as a bottle calf. There's a funny little story to go with the painting too.

Roscoe
12x12 oil on canvas

In the spring, my husband checks the cows often to be sure they are all okay and having no trouble calving. He watches that the new calves are being fed and cared for by their mothers. Sometimes a heifer, a first time mother, will abandon her baby! One Sunday morning he found two calves on two different farms who appeared to be alone. Pa watched them all day but no mother cows came to care for them. He was finally able to identify one calf's mother and by putting them together in a stall in the barn, he got the cow to start feeding her calf.

The other calf was not so lucky. We could never identify the mother so we brought her home in the floorboard of the truck and started to bottle feed her.

We named her Rosie. 

Look at those long eyelashes!

Pa got plenty of help giving Rosie her bottle.

Rosie always wanted MORE!

What a milk mustache!

About a month later, Pa noticed something about Rosie. He said, "Peg, we're going to have to change her name to Roscoe." Yes, lifelong farmer Pa didn't pay attention to which baby calf he reunited with the cow. One was a bull and the other a heifer. The one we were bottle feeding was the bull. 

Rosie was a boy! 

I can't believe we didn't notice that sooner!

So Rosie became Roscoe,
and our daughter said, "Pa, you're slipping!"

30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge

With a new year and a new blog, I've decided to take part in the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge.  I love to paint, but so often life gets in the way. Perhaps the challenge will motivate me... at least, I will enjoy seeing what other artists are painting... and maybe, maybe I will find time to devote to painting myself! 

"Mr. Haynes' Cow"
24x24 oil on canvas

My resolution for the new year is to paint MORE QUICKLY as well as to paint more often! In the past, I've done larger, more complicated paintings that take a lot of time. I'll continue to do some of those, but I want to work on doing some quick little paintings too.

Life will get in the way, I'm sure! A new grandchild is due later this month and I will put down my brush immediately to rush off to see her. Still, I will paint as much as I can! Thirty new paintings in thirty days?... no way!