In the Flock (2018)

I study all kinds of animals and try to pay attention to the distinctive color and texture of each one. In addition, I am often struck by the various postures assumed by animals and how these create interesting compositions and, thus, possibly good paintings.

I was actually looking for an interesting group of sheep for a large farm painting and found them very near home. This male was among them. Having found them, I did sketches in color and then did the painting for which they were intended. When looking back over all the sketches, I got the idea to do a larger, more complete portrait of this one animal. I liked the way his head is turned and how it then relates to the rest of his body. The rest was just finding the way to render the color and texture of wool (never really white, but a whole range of brown and sienna off-whites with occasional touches of blue) and the face right (the long, white nose felt like a brick covered with velvet!). Completed 2001.

Prints are 85-95% of original size, except where noted otherwise.

Dimensions of Original:  11.75"W x 9"H