Project 21: Cow’s Head

We lived in Kaufman County, Texas, for several years on a small farm with five cows. When we moved back to our family farm in Kentucky, we took the cows with us. Jessamine is a big, beautiful cow with dark eyelashes, large ears and horns, all part of her Brahman heritage.

Reference Photo

1 Establish the Form and the Dark Values

Draw the cow’s head lightly in pencil, using your kneaded eraser to make corrections or lighten any lines that are too dark. With Payne’s Gray thinned with water and a no. 3 round, establish the main lines and form. Switch to a no. 4 round for the broader areas.

Mix the warm black for the darkest areas on the face, ears and horns with Burnt Umber and Ultramarine Blue. Paint with a no. 3 round, switching to a no. 4 round for the broader areas. Mix Burnt Sienna and Ultramarine Blue for the dark brown shadows on the neck and paint with a no. 4 round.

2 Paint the Middle Values

Mix a reddish color for the coat with Burnt Sienna and Cadmium Orange. Paint with a no. 3 round, switching to a no. 8 shader for broad areas. Use brushstrokes that follow the cow’s shape. Once this dries, add another coat for good coverage.

Create a buff color for the muzzle and horns with Titanium White and Raw Sienna. Paint with a no. 4 round.

Mix the warm gray for the nose and horn detail with Titanium White, Burnt Umber and Ultramarine Blue. Paint these areas with a no. 3 round. Use the warm gray and a no. 0 round to paint under the eyes. For the chin, mix a little warm black with some of the warm gray. Paint the reflected light under the chin with a mixture of the warm gray and a little Titanium White and a no. 3 round.

3 Begin Adding Detail

Mix some of the warm black with some Burnt Umber. With a no. 3 round, blend where the black areas meet the reddish areas, using small strokes that overlap the edges where the two colors meet. Paint hair detail in the reddish areas with strokes that follow the hair pattern. Make the edges of the ears fuzzy with small strokes and add detail to the nose and horns.

The only background I wanted for the cow’s head was a cloudy sky. I started with a blue sky color, mixed from Titanium White, Ultramarine Blue and a small amount of Yellow Oxide. Imostly painted with a no. 8 shader, but switched to a no. 4 round to paint around the outline of the cow. Ipainted the clouds Titanium White, using a fresh no. 8 shader and blending the edges where the white met the blue while both colors were still wet.

4 Paint the Blaze and the Coat Highlights

For the warm white of the blaze on the cow’s forehead, mix Titanium White with a touch of Cadmium Yellow Light. Use a no. 4 round to paint with dabbing strokes. Overlap the edges of the blaze where it meets the reddish color with a no. 1 round, using small strokes that follow the hair pattern. To detail the white blaze, mix a light blue-gray from Titanium White with small amounts of Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna. Paint with a no. 3 round, using slightly curved strokes. Blend with a separate no. 3 round and the warm white.

Mix the highlight color for the cow’s coat with Titanium White, Cadmium Orange, Yellow Oxide and a small amount of Cadmium Yellow Light. Paint the highlights on the head and ears with a no. 3 round, using a small amount of paint and light-pressured strokes that follow the hair pattern. Paint small, slightly curved triangular tufts. Use a separate no. 3 round with the reddish color to soften and blend. Paint the highlights on the body using parallel brushstrokes that follow the general contours.

Reinforce the lower eyelids with a mixture of Titanium White, Ultramarine Blue and a bit of Burnt Sienna using a no. 1 round. Use a no. 3 round and the same color to paint muted highlights in the black points of the face, ears and nose. Blend the nose detail by alternately painting small strokes of the warm gray and small strokes of the buff.

Ifinished the sky using the same brushes and colors. Isimply reinforced the blue and added more clouds, blending while wet, then drybrushing the edges of the clouds

JESSAMINE

Acrylic on Gessobord

9” × 10” (23cm × 25cm)

5 Add the Finishing Details

Add some Burnt Umber and Ultramarine Blue to a bit of the reddish coat color. Paint the shadowed area of the belly using a no. 4 round, with strokes that follow the contours. Mix some of the coat’s highlight color with a little Cadmium Orange and Burnt Sienna to paint a few details over the shadowed area with a no. 4 round.

Add more detail to the horns with a no. 3 round. Paint a glaze of Burnt Sienna over the horns, then add some staggered, broken lines with the warm black.

Blend the edges of the blaze using a no. 1 round and the warm white. Paint small strokes out from the edges to overlap the reddish color.

Add highlights to the eyes with two no. 1 rounds. Use the first one to paint the highlight with the light blue-gray from Step 4. Using the second brush, quickly blend the highlight’s edges with the dark eye color.

Strengthen the black ear fringes with the warm black and a no. 3 round. Soften the sharp outlines with a no. 1 round and a small amount of the reddish coat color.