The Usual Suspects~WIP & Finish

Shortly after I posted the altered photos I created my drawing and transferred it onto Arches #140 CP. I had a devil of a time deciding how I wanted to go about painting these animals. They sat staring at me until finally it began to drive me nuts and I picked up a brush and just started working. I also gave them back their horns which I protected with frisket film. Bulls need horns, IMO. I've included work in progress photos and my palette consisted of DS Pyrrol red, Quin. gold deep, Indigo, Carbazole violet and DV Quin gold.

The Usual Suspects~my current working title

I couldn't resist. I cropped and greyscaled the image. I then added the sepia tint & text.

Here I've altered the image in Elements. I used the cutout filter first, then replaced the existing colors in the original photo with purples and greens.

A friend recently approached me and asked if I would paint a Jersey cow for her. I said I would try but haven't heard back and been given the go-ahead yet. In the meantime I took the liberty of browsing the Wetcanvas image library for cow photos. When I came across the image of these young bulls submitted by Impshlady it grabbed my interest immediately. Normally I'm title challenged but this time the title came to me before picking up my brush. I don't believe these are Jersey bulls. I did a bit of research online and suspect they are Brown Swiss. Irregardless the breed, I was taken with their stance and expressions. Don't they look like a gang of young hoodlums? I can just imagine them in a police lineup or on an old Wild West wanted poster. I'm currently working on my drawing. The biggest challenge will be sorting out legs as there are other bovines in the background and there's a tangle of limbs to deal with.