This serene painting was done as an assignment for a college project where we had to go out to a location and draw a live subject, mapping out the value and color scale on our sketch and then bringing it back to the studio to paint without photo references. It was a challenge for me.

This is one of my first attempts at using a red undercoat to make the foreground pop. I really liked the results and it caused me to push myself to be loose and brushy (another style that I admire and want to get better at). The subject is, in fact, me jumping over windrows in a hayfield. I wanted to portray the freeing feeling I get when I had the whole field to myself. For some reason I feel like I can leap and run as fast as a deer when I am jumping windrows! Yipee! (Prints available)

Carmen - by Cari Humphry 20x24

I scored a terrific shot of this bovine from an editor for the Arkansas Cattlemen’s Association. I love the smokey atmosphere and the blue-gray is a nice compliment with the burnt sienna of the cow.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/79533439/cow-painting-carmen-20×24-original

Betty - 30x48 - Original Cow Painting by Cari Humphry

Have I mentioned I that I love to paint cows? …. I just finished this girl up on Monday evening or actually it was probably early Tuesday morning- about 2 am. I love this angle, it reminds me of my late grandmother (in a good way). She was red-headed and often had this particular look on her face. The scale of this painting makes it a lot of fun, too- the cow head is life-size or larger. Hope you enjoy!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/82123590/betty-40×30-inches-large-original-cow

"Beyond" (copyright Natasha Henderson) There are eggs in this...

Perhaps this is a little late for Easter. Perhaps you don’t really want to paint an egg right now. That’s cool. However, if you paint an (uncracked, uncooked) egg, you will practice observation and the creative manipulation of representing form.

An egg has volume. An egg has a gentle gradation of shadow. An egg can be reflective (depending on the type of egg it is, and what sort of environment in which it is depicted). In any event, if you just read this and don’t paint, that’s fine too. You’ll learn about all these things, through observing the following images.

Each Sunday, artist Natasha Henderson will guide you through some simple “How To” tips for painting. Having been (honestly) inspired at a young age by the oft-spoofed televised artist Bob Ross, Natasha would like to offer some simple tips on How To Paint Stuff.

I am opting to paint from memory. I actually do not have any eggs in the house right now; it would be better to have one for a real observation. However, the basic egg-shape is a simple one, and all eggs are slightly different from one another anyhow. Therefore, whatever egg I paint could exist. That is an important question to reflect upon, when trying to be convincing in painting… Could This Exist?

just a simple shape, not perfect at all

To start, I painted my paper with a layer of white acrylic to seal it. This is like in all the exercises, as my paper is quite thin. Next, I simply painted a black oval, almost an egg shape. I just wanted to get some outside, rough darkness, leaving the inside white.

smudging with finger while paint is still wet

Then, while the paint was still wet, I smudged down the centre of the egg. I needed to blend in a bit of the darkness to the middle, too. After this, it is mostly all adding white, a bit of black… just tinkering.

I "drew" the negative space around the egg better with some white... and used the white in the egg too

To make the oval shape more egg-like, I worked some white paint around the edges, to sort of erase the black paint that didn’t contribute to its egginess. I then used a sweep of this white along the bottom of the egg, to create some mystery and subtlety in the shadow on the egg. Next up, I painted a great deal of white along the top part of the egg.

more white added... a little smudging with a finger, more white...

Honestly, I went back and forth a couple of times, adding white and then swiping with my finger, until I was happy enough with the result. After this, I painted in a bit of a shadow under the egg.

just mixed a medium grey to start...

I decided that I wanted to have a gradation or two in the shadow, as well as a bit more in the egg… so I added in some lighter and darker greys where it made sense.

a bit more grey

I finalised what I did today by painting in more white. If I’d wanted to colour the egg I would wait ’til it is dry, then glaze a colour onto it and dab a little bit of white “reflection” on the lightest part. (See last week for tips on glazing, and how this idea works!)

our friend, the egg.

You can see that I got rid of a great deal of the shadow under the egg, this is just what felt “right” to me about the image. It’s up to you how much light and shadow are in your image, and what sort of environment your egg exists within.

Paint on! Paint on.

Natasha Henderson, Montreal

Related Articles

• How To Paint: a little light (fleurbain.com)
• How To Paint: a small stand of trees in silhouette (fleurbain.com)
• How To Paint: a bit of colour (fleurbain.com)

Family - Original Painting 30x48 - by Cari Humphry

I have worked for the last several months on this “beast” …I say “beast” because it is the largest scale painting I have done and the amount of paint required and space occupied in my studio was overwhelming at times.  I painted this on a nice 1.5 inch thick canvas and the image continues around the edges, so no frame is necessary.

I do plan on doing a couple of more over the next few months.  Of course, I want to do another cow- maybe a close up… larger-than-life??

http://www.etsy.com/listing/67143899/family-30×48-original-painting-of-cows

It’s interesting to work with an idea, try it in different formats and different styles and see how that alters the material.

"Farm in the Hills" by Debra Lohrere

“Farm in the Hills” is an original oil painting by Debra Lohrere 60cm x 90cm. Currently on display at the Lyrebird Gallery at Beaudesert, Queensland Australia. Sale price $500.00 pickup. $550.00 Delivered Australia. $600.00 Delivered to International Collectors. For delivery, canvas will be detatched from stretcher, rolled up and sent in postal tube.

The Farm - Original Painting by Cari Humphry

 I really enjoy painting clouds…have I mentioned that before? This painting was fun to contrast the textures in the foreground (the wheat) with the softness of the clouds and the stillness of the farm in the background.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/53240685/the-farm-original-painting-20×24-on

Todays painting is called “Stormy Pasture” featuring an original acrylic on a piece of antique tin. This painting is definitely one of a kind with it’s unique colors, drama, and moody subject matter. To see larger pics or to purchase then
please click here.

Please take a moment and check out my daily painting blog…over 1000 paintings posted!!

http://www.artisttonigrote.blogspot.com/

The film concerns the state of agriculture in this country and what we grow and eat.

From the film’s website: ” Eating good food is a sensual experience. We taste it, we savor it, and we remember great meals. Sharing those meals with family and friends helps define our humanity.  And the food we choose to eat expresses a fundamental choice about the kind of world we want to live in.

But there is a great lie being sold to the American food consumer about these choices. That lie is that the food being grown for us on the big farms and sold in the big chain supermarkets is tasty and nutritious. The truth is, it is neither.”

Check out the film’s site for more info.

The film has been screened once or twice as a work in progress, but will soon have the official Premiere in the U.S. in Los Angeles. I will post more when I hear more. I will even load-up a small portion of the animation next week. When I try and imagine my animation being projected on a 35 or 70mm huge screen in a movie theater, I get a little queasy. But I think it turned out funny and interesting and provides a good method to quickly show how agriculture developed in the U.S. from the Great Depression on.

Here are a few captures I’ve been meaning to post.

I seem to have a thing for farms. Well, drawing farms anyway. And rural landscapes in general. I have done a few animated shorts set on farms, and a graphic novel (with agent, but I’m not sure it will be picked up) that has a rural setting (truth be told, it is half farm/half outer space). I’m just finishing up some animation for a great new documentary by November Films and it features – a history of farming in the United States.

So I have more then a few notebooks filled with farm quick drawings/inspiration. Here are a few. I like the raw energy of these works-in-progress. Usually placed too close to an edge of the page, or smeared with coffee. They have great life to them. And it takes a lot of effort to keep that life, that spontaneity and produce a finished piece that is production ready, at least that’s the tough part for me.

This is a really big painting, used in a long pan down. The foregorund elements are actually on a different level so you get a little bit of a multi-plane effect. This is the second shot in the documentary I have been writing about. I will have more news on that project soon!

I have been working on a really cool animated segment for a documentary the past 3 months now. Above is another background for it. I will post more as soon as I can.

-M