Cows in Herefordshire

It has been a month since my last post and since I've picked up a painting brush. Sometimes life gets a little bit in the way... I was almost scared to paint again, as if I would have forgotten everything! No chance to go out and paint outside as the weather has been (and still is) terrible here in England, so I decided to look in my photographs references "treasure box" hoping to find something inspiring to paint in the studio and slowly get me back into "painting mode". 

I found a lovely photograph of cows in a field I took during a trip in Herefordshire last year and decided to do a small study of it:

Cows in Herefordshire   10"x8"   oil on board

As usual, I kept it simple and wanted to capture the essence of the scene.

Detail

As you can see below, I didn't copy exactly the picture and decided to take it as a starting point
to play with colours and shapes.

The reference photograph

Click here to view a painting made a few months ago inspired by the same trip in Herefordshire.

I really enjoyed painting this little study and cannot wait to get back to the easel for more. Hopefully the rain will stop at some point and I will be able to paint some cows for real...

Cows at Lansdown, Bath, on a summer evening

I have been painting a lot lately, in spite of having a full time job. If painting was an illegal drug then I would be in rehab right now! But it's not, so I'm just embracing the feeling and look forward to painting more and more. The painting below is a scene of the cows in Lansdown in Bath.

Cows at Lansdown, Bath on a summer evening       14"x10"  oil on board

It was painted in plein air a couple weeks ago on a sunny Sunday evening. For once I had my partner's car for myself , and while most girls would treat themselves to an exciting shopping trip, I decided to go and paint some cows - whatever makes you happy right? I went to the top of Lansdown (where I'm certainly not fit enough to get to on my bike...) There is something I love about cows - and cows' paintings. They look like peaceful and simple animals.

Here is a close up of the view where I enjoyed using quick fully loaded brushstrokes

For colour harmony purpose, I decided to only paint the white and black cows. I hope the brown ones didn't take offence.

The cows got gradually more curious about what I was doing there and came close to keep me company. I tried to tell them that they were missing out on the chance to be integrated in the painting if they stayed behind me but I don't think they understood.

The painting towards the end of the session
as I was just adding some cows