02 Aug A Tale of Two Farm Animals
And two approaches to painting.
As part of my studies for my Certificate IV in Visual Arts (at Oxygen College), we were tasked with creating two large paintings, and I have been surprised and delighted with the process and end result.
I had a solid idea of bringing a rooster to life, as I adore their colourful plumage and strong personalities. I also wanted to express a mood with the lighting of the piece, and after much planning (including a phase where he was going to be in a nightclub), I settled on a similar vibe to Vermeer’s the milkmaid.
This was also where the milk & coffee came into it, and he became known as The Baroosta.
I do love a good pun.
I took quite a few cues from the milkmaid – the placement of the window, the pointillism on the bread, the ultramarine blue elements, and I used the techniques of underpainting and glazing. These are most often used with oil painting but can also be achieved with acrylics with mediums.
This piece took over 60 hours, and I certainly learnt a lot and had a lot of fun with it. I think it could make for a good limited-edition print run. More details on that coming soon… I’d love to see him popping up in some local cafes!
Now… the Goat.
Well, after spending so much time with the Rooster, I didn’t spend nearly as much time planning this one. So apart from the crucial idea of a goat eating his own canvas, it all got a bit rushed. It’s been a great lesson in the benefits on planning, colour swatching and trials.
The first thing I did was the scariest – ripping up the canvas! I ended up stitching it back together and using impasto for the 3d effect of his top lip.
Not much else about this work went the way I wanted it too, but it’s ended up being a fun painting that makes me smile. I hope you like it too!
So, one approach – slow, methodical, lots of research and development – resulted in a refined rooster in a classical composition (he probably has some classical music playing).
The other – quick, fast and loose – resulted in a landscape that I’m less than happy with, and a bonkers character who frustrated me as much as a real goat would. (I still love him though).
I like to think that if you walked out of the kitchen where the rooster is, you would run into the goat in the first paddock.
The art journey continues, and I am looking forward to creating more characters!