Oreo and the Chicken

Oreo the goat was very fun to paint. I really tried to emphasize his goatee and the light wispiness of the hair on top of his head. I added light around the goatee to show color variation from his fur to bring out the chin hair. I started this painting with the goat’s left eye and did a time lapse video of half of the face. This painting took 2 days to complete because I needed to allot for drying time in order to add many layers to create the appearance of black. I used brown and blue paint mixed together to create the dark features. I chose to put the goat on hay for the background and added a blue sky.

Number 6 in the series is a wonderful Wyandotte chicken possibly silver laced. I chose this chicken because of it’s feather color and pattern. I loved that I would be able to use the blue and brown mixture to create an ink like painting and then add color later for texture. I also started with this animal’s left eye and worked the rest of the painting from there. The regal look of the chicken impressed me and I chose to take the owner’s horizontal photograph and crop it into a vertical version focusing on the bird’s posture. I love how she looks out at the audience and sparks the imagination.

Each brown and black stroke of paint was mixed differently and can be seen, on the original, when closely looked at. I added cerulean to bring a light blue shade into the whites of the feathers to show movement and contrast. The background of the photograph had grass, leaves, and dirt. I chose to simplify this to small grass patches and dirt with particles. I love that a painting can be an interpretation of a photograph and each is a capture of a moment in time. I am very grateful for this opportunity to paint Witchy Acres Farm. It is very nice to paint Tiny again. Each of these paintings took 2 days and a lot of layering. I hope you enjoy them!

-Karen Hilliard