Chicken Series

 

"Chickens in Van Gogh country"
50x40cm oil on canvas

"Family Portrait" (TLO and Dina)
50x50cm oil on canvas

Raising chickens turned out to be a fascinating but complex venture. It's difficult keeping just one because they are social creatures and get depressed when alone, but two doesn't work either because they wind up fighting. So, in the end, we gave them away to a local farmer where they are now under the watchful eye of a team of roosters. That works. We bring them treats and can see that they are happily integrated and healthy. Recently, I've noticed there are some little ones that look like them.

TLO ("The Little One"), purchased as a two-day-old chick, quickly grew to become a huge, beautiful chicken. For the TAE charity event I painted TLO from one of my old photos:

"Spring Chicken"
5x7inches, oil on Figueras canvas paper

Cats

These two are from the "Photographers Donated Reference photos for Artists Art Sharing group” on Facebook. Sue Rickhuss photographed her cats, Bailey and Willow, and let us use the photo for inspiration. She says I captured their expressions. Well, it wasn’t as easy as I thought. I liked the contrast of the two colors and tried to stop while I was ahead. I could always do another one to experiment further. In fact, this might be fun to paint really big next time. 

 “Cats”

20x20cm, oil on canvas

(private collection, Bristol, UK)

Happy Thanksgiving!

This one is based on a photo by Gaynor Lewis in the EARL Facebook Group (Every Artists Reference Library).

“Pardon me?”
15x15cm, Cobra oil on canvas panel

A Photogenic Chicken

I never knew there were so many different varieties of chicken. This one is from a photograph on the Artists Free Reference Photos group on Facebook. The photographer, Pam Fretwell, noted that it is a Black Rhode, a cross between a Rhode Island Red and a Plymouth Rock. In any case, the breed is very paintable. 

"A Photogenic Chicken" 

10x15cm, Cobra oil on gessoed cardboard

(private collection, Woluwe Saint Lambert) 

Quatre Vaches

 

The Internet has become a huge reservoir of reference material for artists. On Facebook there are now several groups where photographers post their photographs for artists to use as inspiration for their work.  This is handy during the pandemic when you don't want to spend too much time on the street. The above oil sketch is based on a photograph by Carol Shockett. I read in the group's rules that it's not obligatory to mention the photographer unless you are posting to the group but I like to credit the source. 

I'm trying out Cobra paints, a water-based oil paint by Talens. You dont need to use turpentine so that makes them ideal for indoor work.

"Quatre vaches"
10x15 cm, Cobra oil on canvas panel

The Bird Challenge

This is another of the Daily Paintworks challenges:  link here. 
I thought this "kingfisher from pixabay" might work well on the small ACEO format.

ACEO n°9: "DPW Bird" 
6.4x8.9cm, oil on canvas panel
(Private collection, Brussels) 

Happy New Year!

Some tiny ACEOs to start the year.  

These small canvas panels are difficult to find in Brussels so I ordered them at www.SharksArtCanvas.com.  I have been calling them ATCs ("Artist Trading Cards") but it looks like that is used only for a specific exchange project. So the generic term must be ACEO ("Art Cards, Editions and Originals").

First, I finally got around to doing the Daily Paintworks painting challenge from 2011.  Take a look at the site to see all the cats:  
The whole cat and kaboodle challenge 

ACEO n°6: "DPW Cat" 
6.4x8.9cm, oil on canvas panel
(private collection, Brussels)


After that I tried Evhe's "défi de peinture", which I just discovered last week. I am amazed that by checking the VPO blog in Kentucky, I linked to a blog in Malaga and that's where I found a link to this painting challenge hosted by a painter in Moselle:
A nos pinceaux

ACEO n°7: "Tulips" 
8.9x6.4cm, oil on canvas panel 
(private collection, Brussels)