Sunday, November 27, 2011

Cow


pencil 10.25x6cm

Oh dear. The end of November is almost here without me having posted anything. My hours book (yes, hours book) tells me that I have been working slowly but solidly on two paintings. Admittedly, there have been small diversions - tiny landscape sketches, devising and constructing a lighting system, and a short trip to London (AFC Wimbledon 1- Swindon 1) and Wales - but what have I got to show for it?

One of the paintings (see Works in Progress) features twelve white cows. Now, it is over thirty years since I seriously attempted to draw any kind of ruminant, and I was experiencing no end of frustration trying to depict these animals convincingly. As the work developed, their forms, especially those further away, shifted through cow, sheep, and horse, and occasionally veered towards dog. Rather than spend another week creating mutant farmyard animals, I decided to study the beasts in question the best way I know how – by making many drawings of the damned things.

So, I find myself almost at the end of a long November looking to finish at least this piece before the disruption of the so-called festive season, and here is a drawing of a cow.