In The Studio: Just Paint 6 “Spring Calves”

Now I know you can see the little critters, those totally detailed little black blobs in the field, rendered with all of the accuracy of a finger tip.  But really they do look accurate at this distance.  Remember tell the story and let the viewer finish it.  I worked this composition again on the back of a fairly good piece of moving white shape.  The texture in the foreground sets up the amount of detail and texture I can put in the middle and distance.  The foreground holds everything in place.I painted this painting using a number 16 round brush except for the details late in the paint when I used a Rigger for the trees and a number 8 round for the cattle.  I splattered the paint with the round brush and a used toothbrush.  Most of the time I wet the paper with a natural sponge and then remove the extra water with the same sponge, this allows me to work on the surface right after the wetting process.Use the side of the brush and really pull and push it across the paper, work for interesting edges not exact weeds.