Longhorn:

Jan does not usually do "domestic" animals. But she really likes longhorns. She loves their coat patterns, and the difference in the horns. Longhorns are tough and resilient and don't require much "help" from man. So in a way - they are as close to "wild" as cattle get! Jan has several upcoming "Western" museum shows so she will be planning on doing several longhorn paintings in the next few months.

Jan and James went on a photo shoot at Woolaroc. They went out one day when the museum was closed with one of the ranch hands on the feed truck. They got some really great photos of longhorn. James is publishing one as a sepia giclée which you can see at: James Gary Hines II - Nature Photographer - North America Fine Art Images. Jan was really after cow and calves and got some great photos. Notice the "non longhorn" in the photo.		These aren't longhorn - but Jan thought you would enjoy the photo. This is in Kenya with her friend Sue in June. They were having breakfast outside of the park boundaries of the Mara in Maasai land. As they were eating, suddenly there was a tingling of bells and out of the trees came a herd of Maasai cattle who nonchalantly kept grazing as they passed by Sue and Jan!

Here is a photo of the drawing done to size and taped on the gessoed panel. The panel is covered with a sort of purple tinted gesso. Jan has started mixing this color as her base to paint on, as it seems to work well for her techniques. On the left is the main photo she will be working from of the longhorn cow licking her calf. But Jan is changing the background, adding some sage brush. While the cow was licking her calf - Jan did not capture the actual tongue coming out - so - she pulled the photo of the bull bison licking a cow in courtship to use as reference for the tongue.

Jan is creating the far tree line. To give the "illusion" of branches and leaves she is using her cellophane technique of crumpling it into the wet paint.

To create depth, Jan is now "poking sky holes". What that means is that she is going back and painting in the sky peaking through trunks and branches.

Jan did not mask out the cows in this painting. Here she has gone back and painted them in with the same purple based gesso. She has also transferred the drawing with the white artist transfer paper. Most of the grasses and sage have been completed behind the cows.

The calf has been completed, and the cow has been started. Notice how the purple of the ground color of the gesso is already being used to help define the shape of the cow.

This closeup shows all the various colors Jan is using in a "white" cow. There are turquoises and purples in the shadows and peaches and yellow where the light reflects.

This is the finished painting - "A LITTLE LOVIN' FROM MAMA" , 10" x 20".