farm

Roosters on the lam

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Out at the barn adjacent to The MIlleridge Inn, a local restaurant, live a flock of roosters. They sneak under the fencing and chicken wire enclosure and have a gay old time strutting their stuff in the parking lot oblivious to vehicles and gawkers. Due to February weather in NY, I painted these in my mobile studio.

I am becoming rather smitten with these feathery fellows as it really allows me to play with my Rosemary &Co. 1/2″ sword in a very calligraphic way. While it is usual for me to not put down pencil first, in these instances it would be a fool’s errand. They scuttle around so quickly that they would long be gone as I was just getting an indication of the back tails in graphite. Laying down instantaneous color on clean paper in a wet on wet and dry brush manner is my only chance.

One actually flew onto my minivan hood and tried to get onto the roof by climbing the front windshield. I felt like I was in a scene of Hitchcock’s, The Birds, until I saw him sliding down the same windshield; then, it was pretty comical.

As the weather permits, I am sure to go back repeatedly as they are equally fun to paint as they are to watch. Stay tuned for more barnyard antics!

The Restaurant Barn

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So there is a restaurant near me that’s on a compound. It has a little village with a cute ice cream parlor and a gift shoppe or two. On the restaurants other side, it is flanked by a small barnyard. There are a couple of donkeys, a pig or two, several pea hens and a peacock and many roosters in all different sizes and shapes. I had a little time midday and stopped by to paint the barn. This was my first go at it and I am not to displeased, which is a polite way of saying it doesn’t suck. It was an very light red barn so getting the values right was a challenge.

I will return in the near future to have another go at it. There are unresolved issues here and I have enough to keep me up at night without worrying about a barn.