Jessy the Cow

Another of my Christmas commission pieces was Jessy, a very special show heifer, now cow.  I have done a lot of cows, but they didn’t have to look like a specific cow, so that was my challenge in this piece. It was a bit tricky to define features in a black on black image. I also wanted to capture a bit of the personality that was described to me about Jessy.  Like Wilbur in ‘Charlotte’s Web’, this was a SPECIAL cow! The customer was terrific, providing me with excellent photos, information, a sense of the feel of the piece, and magazines to cut the background words out of.

The brand colors were black and hot pink, so I wanted to represent that while still making the piece neutral enough to match any decor.  I am happy with the touches of hot pink that I achieved.

Starting with a background where I used Citra Solv to alter selected dark magazine strips, provides some interesting texture and colorations in the piece.  To create the Jessy distinctive spotting in the nose, I simply scrubbed away more of the ink in some places than others.  I used Golden High Flow pink flourescent paint to add the hints of pink to the piece. I also used that paint to add the hint of a show ribbon on Jessy’s right shoulder. On top of the Citra Solv background I added cut out relevant words in strips.  I felt that would represent, in an abstract way, a white barn behind Jessy. I used a white acrylic fine tip paint pen to add detailson the ear tag, eyes, and tufts of white hair.

It is so fun to actually feel like I have gotten to know Jessy a bit while making this piece.  That is how it is when I create any specific person, or animal, or scene. It becomes familiar as I spend time with it in its making.

Hope you have a happy creative week!