Belted Galloway Cows logo and painting

This was a really cool project I worked on with Paula Matthews from Manor Farm in Surrey. Paula provided me with a range of photos of her herd of belted galloway cattle. I created a black and white logo of a belted galloway cow (based on one of the farm's cows) and Paula then had it printed onto bags, banners and a van. As the preparatory work for a logo and a painting are essentially the same, Paula also commissioned a painting of some belties in the Surrey countryside which is now on display in the farm shop. Check out the photos below and you can see more belted galloway cow art here.

Paintings of Black Cows

Blue is the new black, well not that new, for many a year now I have often made the darkest colour in my palette ultramarine blue or a purple made by adding some cadmium red. I love the way these colours contrast with flesh tones when painting people, see this nude for example. Equally when painting black cows, for me, blue is the way to go! See a collection of my paintings of black cows, angus and dexter breeds here.
  

Stag Painting

"Dry Brush" - painting using the dry brush technique of a stag with large antlers grazing on some dry brush!



stag paintings

Goat Paintings

"Strike A Pose" - This goat came over to investigate when I walked by the field in Cannington Somerset United Kingdom. The picture is painted using Atelier interactive acrylics.






goat paintings

Cow Paintings

"The Courage of Youth" - This young cow was found in a field north of Exeter in Devon. In this acrylic painting I've deliberately used non-realistic colors but at the same time endeavored to keep the hues harmonious so that they are striking but not jarring. The "blue lighting" has become something of a signature in my work and can be seen in several of my animal and figure paintings.

White Goat Painting

"It's Just Me"

 
goat art


 "It's Just Me" - This goat came over to investigate when I walked by the field in Cannington Somerset United Kingdom.

Cow Paintings

More cow artwork including paintings by other artists here cow canvas prints

Cow Paintings

More cow paintings including work by other artists.

Farm Animal Paintings

Farm Animal Christmas Tree Ornaments - Belted Galloway Cow Painting

Belted Galloway Animal Christmas Tree Ornament by mike_jory
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Farm Animals Christmas Tree ornaments - Sheep painting

Sheep Farm Animal Christmas tree ornament by mike_jory
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2013 Animal Paintings Calendar Available Now!

Cow Sheep Goat Horse Fox Farm Animals Calendar by mike_jory
More 2013 calendars from Zazzle

Sheep standing in the spring sunshine painting

Sheep standing in the spring sunshine painting "Spring Sunshine" - inspired by sheep from the cliff tops of South Devon near Branscombe, Devon in England.

Exhibition on now at Exeter Picture House cinema in Exeter

Exhibition on now at Exeter Picture House cinema in Exeter, open daily 1pm to 11pm until Monday July 23rd.

Cows by the River and Double Rainbows! New painting on the way for the Migraine Action Art Exhibition

A trip to Stoke Canon near Exeter led to seeing these cows grazing near the river, a quick sketch of the scene (above)

The pic above shows the layout transferred to canvas (this is a 40" x 50" so a really generous size and great fun to work on). I've actually added some interference acrylic as well which will give a hint of iridescence in the finished work. You can see the effect in the pic below which shows the same canvas under different lighting conditions. This is a technique I've explored before in illustration but only recently adapted to landscape and animal painting.

Quick interlude! The next 2 pics have nothing to do with the painting but I couldn't resist including a couple of shots of this double rainbow! :-)

Back to the painting, here I've added in the outlines of 3 cows...

I'm hoping to include this painting in the Migraine Action Art Exhibition if I can get it finished in time...we'll see how it goes over the next few weeks...

2012 Calendars featuring a range of cow, sheep, horse and landscape paintings now available

2012 Calendars featuring a range of cow, sheep, horse and landscape paintings are now available. The perfect gift for Christmas! :-)

Cow Sheep and Horse Paintings 2012 calendar by mike_jory
Browse Cow Calendars

Step 3 of New Painting on the way Cows lying down on Dartmoor

 

Here are the next couple of stages of the paintings. Above you can see that the cows are still in their metallic blue phase but some modifications have been made to the background hills. The right and left hand thirds of the hill-scape have been coated in a thin layer of interference blue while the middle section is now coated in interference yellow (the latter being created by mixing some cadmium yellow with some pearlescent tinting medium).

Once dry the trees and hedgerows were added in a loose style. In the second pic (below) I've started to "knock back" the shimmer from the interference blue on the cows by over-painting the cows with interactive acrylic.

When applying the paint at this stage I'm just painting as I would normally, regardless of the fact there is interference acrylic beneath. When the painting is finished I want any interference blue that shows through to be serendipitous in nature and not look "planned".

At this stage I also notice that the cow on the right is somewhat out of shape and resembling one of those creatures Anakin rode in Attack of the Clones. Some bovine surgery will be required very soon!

 

Step 2: Cows lying down on Dartmoor

The plan with this work is to alternate layers of acrylic with layers of interference color. In this photo you can see that the cows have now been over-painted with interference blue as has the sky and distant hills. The moorland in the mid and foreground has been painted with interference copper & violet, respectively. Although it appears that most of the previous layer has been obliterated there is actually a mixture of areas where only the metallic colour shows and areas where some of the under painting is showing through
As the painting progresses the intention is to make the layers of interference color progressively more transparent...but we'll see how it goes!

New Painting on the way / Cows lying down on Dartmoor

Here are the beginnings of a new painting, some Dexter cattle lying down among the heather and gorse of Dartmoor. I've enjoyed painting these cows before, their dark hides lend themselves to the inclusion of plenty of blue where the light catches them. They also contrast well with the magenta, green and yellow of the surrounding flora.
My previous paintings "Time For A Nap" and "A Lunch Interrupted" were both small (24"x8") but this time I wanted to work on a larger scale and this canvas, being about 30"x40", is for me near perfect in size as it allows me to use a reasonably large brush and not get caught up in the annoyances of fiddly intricate bits!
This new painting (if it proves successful)also marks the start of what I hope will be the next stage in the development of my artistic technique. I'm combining my normal combination of conventional and interactive acrylics with the iridescent effects that can be achieved with interference acrylics.
The landscape and cows were all painted with a layer of interference acrylic before over painting with acrylic and I'll expand more on the planned technique when I post the next stage.

Paintings on show at the Bath & West show this June

Each year Somerset sees the arrival of the Royal Bath & West Show, a major agricultural show that features an array of attractions and several thousand visitors. Among the cattle, sheep and motorcycle stunt shows you'll also find an art exhibition. I've just had 2 paintings and a drawing accepted for the show which runs 1st - 4th June 2011, so if you happen to be passing the art pavilion please feel free to have a look.

"Ready Steady..." Lamb and sheep acrylic painting by mike_jory
View other Lamb Posters

The Luminary Acrylic Cow Painting by mike_jory
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'Clear Air' by Mike Jory