Painting the Chickens

Painting the Chickens
Oil on wood panel, 9x12
Boone Farm Paint-Out, Augusta Plein Air Art Festival
purchase here

This day's paint out was at the Daniel Boone Farm in Defiance, Missouri. When I walked upon this scene - I KNEW I had to paint it!  After spending over an hour scouting all over the property, with a good idea of what I wanted to paint, I stumbled onto this scene  - and it totally grabbed me!  Lon Brauer had dressed in period attire to paint - so he was the perfect model in the perfect setting! Never before had I even attempted painting a figure for a timed plein air paint, but I LOVED it!  I should have been doing this years ago!  I had so much fun getting this scene down in oils - it was like a concentrated workshop on life drawing - of both Lon and the moving chickens!  With a scene like this, with constant movement - the most important thing to capture is what is most likely to change. The light, shadows, and especially Lon!  He is a fast painter, moving quickly from one painting to the next, so I painted his figure within the first few minutes.  Working next in finer detail, I blocked in the light and shadow.  As one of the chickens would get into a position I liked, I would switch to them, getting them painted in before they moved again.  I had so much fun painting this!  I can't wait until the opportunity presents itself again!  Painting number 872 in 872 days :)