Bring on the Rain

The soft patter of rain on our roof woke us up yesterday morning. The unfamiliar sound was a great relief.  Each drop was new and refreshing my father carried water to cattle for 26 months straight. It ended with the rain in August. Now going into spring if rain had not come we would again be carrying water. With each cow drinking up to 20 gallons a day it was not cheap to give these animals the liquid.  The rain that fall washed in the fertilizer that we spread this weekend. It is a gamble. To put fertilizer out without rain can burn the plant but with out the food the plants do not grow. The rain brought grass to grow, water to drink, it brought a refreshing spring. You can say it even washed some of the worry off my farmer.  Here is what I have been painting on this week. Click Here to go to the Auctions.  Add Comment Painting a puppy 04/16/2014 0 Comments I would  like to introduce you to Sam.  Sam was my husband's dog, a stray he showed up one day. When Tractorman, my husband, he crawled out from under a work truck. Tractorman went into the house and got a shot gun.  He shot at the ground to scare the stray off. Sam crawled back under a work truck.  Tractorman threaten to get rid of Sam if he was still there when classes was over. That evening Sam was still there. He stood over knee high. Tall skinny and lanky with a calm disposition. He quickly learned to put cows up. With marking like a coyote, you had to do a double take  when he trotted across the pastures. One night we were feeding cattle and he was running around, down to the pond and looking for rabbits. A truck stopped on the road to watch him. It was a group of coyote hunters checking Sam out. Tractorman yells "Sam get on the truck" and here he came. He gracefully jumped on the truck in one flying leap and sat there like this is my kingdom. I painted him laying under the tractor tire. His favorite spot to sit while we worked on equipment.  You can win an original painting of Sam by bidding on it on eBay. Click Here.

Painting a puppy

 

I would  like to introduce you to Sam.  Sam was my husband's dog, a stray he showed up one day. When Tractorman, my husband, he crawled out from under a work truck. Tractorman went into the house and got a shot gun.  He shot at the ground to scare the stray off. Sam crawled back under a work truck.  Tractorman threaten to get rid of Sam if he was still there when classes was over.

That evening Sam was still there. He stood over knee high. Tall skinny and lanky with a calm disposition. He quickly learned to put cows up.

With marking like a coyote, you had to do a double take  when he trotted across the pastures. One night we were feeding cattle and he was running around, down to the pond and looking for rabbits. A truck stopped on the road to watch him. It was a group of coyote hunters checking Sam out. Tractorman yells "Sam get on the truck" and here he came. He gracefully jumped on the truck in one flying leap and sat there like this is my kingdom.

I painted him laying under the tractor tire. His favorite spot to sit while we worked on equipment.
You can win an original painting of Sam by bidding on it on eBay. Click Here.

Studying a Small John Deere

Before every artwork I create an 5 x 7 inch study in one color in my sketchbook. This allows me to check for a poor composition before I start the drawing on a good board. I also can see what size I want to make the final artwork. Some just lend themselves to smaller artworks while others beg to be created in a larger size. This artwork will be an 8 X 10 art piece when I make in in full color and with great clarity.      Some of my other tractors I have painted are listed below if you would like to see more. Painting a Retired Massey A Model A A FarmAll A Another John Deere      Since this is my first time videoing myself painting it is not great. If you have a helpful hint please comment. I only get better with your help.  God Bless

Finishing the Massey.

In Oklahoma the snow fall I have seen all my life can be wrapped up into about 5 storms. That is it. Yes it has snowed more but a typical snow storm here is on the ground at morning. If you don't play in it before lunch it is gone before Dad got home. So my little girl has seen more true snow storms in the last four years than I have in my whole life. She is enjoying her dad's homemade sled here. Back to the Massey, I am left handed so I work from the right side to the left. Just my way of working without getting paint everywhere. I have added the layer of madden brown to make it look rusted without getting muddy in the color. The under area of blue helps to push the tire out for me. The process was repeated like a sewing machine. Work the yellow and purple into the shadows. Add the yellow for highlights When dry add the madden brown. But man is the process working well. Here are some other tractors if you like to look at them. Don't over think the details. Here I added some Payne's gray for the shadows and purple in layers to cast the shadow. Adding some yellow and ultramarine wiggles marks for the grass. Then glazing the whole underside with a green. That will be all folks.   This painting is for sell and at a nice 8 by 10 it is a perfect size for any small office.

Painting the Retired Massey

Doesn't Woody look like he has his hands full.  While I let the cows out of the catch pin where the guys sorted calves off, Old Hereford sneaked up on my girl playing with Woody. The old cow is gentle and my daughter seeing her coming decided to get in the middle of the truck bed where the cows could not reach her. After working cattle all day I waited til the next morning to get started. I drew out my drawing in pencil and then used a permanent pen to ink it in.  Next I added yellow ocher and some green into the engine area. Since the Massey is rusted the green will help to make nice gray areas. A little blue for the sky allow me to define the background while I was waiting for everything to dry. I started adding purple into my painting for the deep shadows this helps to give that great deep area that does not look flat.  I will show you the rest of the work later this week.  Click Here if you would like to see some of my other painting step by step.

The Guts of my Sketchbook.

 When the tempature dips down into the single digits, we consider it very cold. I know that the north thinks we are thin skinned but we also spend our summers in 110+ weather. The real extreme was the change Monday in the 70's and Friday in the singles. Cattle still must be fed and ice chopped for water.

Back in the warmth of the day I will go back to talking about my sketchbook. If you did not catch the first round here it is. We have all heard if looking a planner is like looking a brain. This is my planner, organizer, sketch area and so on. 

I have a Google calendar where I put appointments and such. I print out that weeks and write my to do list on it. This is my brain for the week for me to track the whole family.

Inside is also some of my doodles. This is the one I worked on for weeks during church. I can not sit and listen. When I draw I remember what was told. These drawings help me remember what I was learning.

These are also my stamps. When teaching kids I stay on my toes about changing it up. We made rubber stamps and these were a few of them.

A pocket is a must. From handouts to bills. I keep everything here. If you are interested I would show a few different pockets for sketchbook later. 

Of course some paintings. I worked with family on a church project and made a slide show backgrounds.

I am a big writer. Paper is my life. I have to feel the pen across the paper. All my list and notes just do not work on a tablet. So I journal, list and plan in this book as well. This is where all my dreams and hopes are wrote into actions.

I also cut up some watercolor paper. The good arches and put it in here. Then I create value sketches of my next artwork. Please feel free to ask questions. I love to share.

Here is some of my artist brain at work.

Another work I would like to share is the Christmas Bulbs on eBay. 

Looking at the Sketchbook

 

Many artist have trouble looking to find a sketchbook that works for them. I am no different. Being a farmers wife makes my needs more of a plein air artist than a studio artist. I work from the truck many times a month. So I will show you my life, brain and everything else.

My sketchbook is home made. Not something new to me. I have made sketchbooks for years. I love controlling the look and use of the book. I like to choose the paper I put in them.  Maybe I am a control freak but I need something that works.

My latest creation is more of a three ring binder approach. I like this because I can lighten the load of paper I carry and save the work and notes that I made somewhere else. I add paper as needed and take out old stuff to put in a storage binder as needed. The covers are Masonite or hardboard. I recycle an old college project to use them. They hold up to the elements, and my daughter Calamity Jane. It also makes drawing in the truck nice to have a hard surface to work with. I have used this while walking across the hay bales and making notes.

Over the next blog I will show you the guts of my sketchbook.
Check out my eBay Christmas Ornaments.