|
|||||
|
Best known for her bovine renditions, with unique compositions and contemporary views, Denise has combined her love of animals and art in oil for the past 20 years.
Denise's focus for the past several years has been cows because "Cows make me smile. I seriously can't look at one and hold back a smile. I don't just see an animal, I see a personality, and that is what I am working to present in my paintings of cows." In 2006 Denise received a commission from the California Milk Advisory Board to paint their famous Happy Cows of the Real California Milk campaign. This led to becoming "The Official Happy Cow Artist", as seen on their website.
Her creative process begins with field work, taking reference photos. Cows being a favorite subject means "field work" can be taken literally, and involves careful stepping!
With a signature "painterly realism" style Denise breathes life
into her subjects, often bringing viewer comments of how "you could just reach out and touch them" and "I expect them to mooo".
Follow me on Twitter Join me on Facebook Contact Denise
Questions, Comments?
This Month
Month Archive
|
Sunday, September 20
Bosque Conservatory Art Classic, three pieces juried into the show
by
therichartist
on Sun 20 Sep 2009 07:59 AM PDT
I was very pleased to find that three of my entries were accepted into the Bosque Conservatory Art Classic show in Clifton, Texas, September 12-27, 2009.
This show gets a very large number of entries, this year it received 975 entries, from which 144 were chosen in four categories. I had these two Hereford works in the paintings category:   Ranger Portrait 16"x20" (sold at the show) and Crowded Cows 18"x18" and this (American Bison) Buffalo Portrait (Charcoal and Oil) in the drawing category:  Buffalo Portrait 16"x20" Friday, September 18
Texas Longhorn calf, Black Baldy cow, Hereford calf paintings by Denise Rich
by
therichartist
on Fri 18 Sep 2009 08:25 AM PDT
You might have noticed the recorded videos in recent blog posts showing portions of these three paintings in progress.
Here they are finished, fresh off of the easel. All three are 14"x14" on portrait canvas.    The Hereford is another view of Ranger, a recently sold portrait. He is so cute! The Black Baldy painting is a portrait of one of his friends, they both lived on the same property, and were show cattle. The little Texas Longhorn calf portrait is the second in a series of portraits, the first one is sold. I have one more view that I did as a study (sold) that I will likely paint in the future. Saturday, September 12
Took reference photos last Tuesday...Dairy, Buffalo Ranch, Dairy in that order
by
therichartist
on Sat 12 Sep 2009 05:21 PM PDT
My plans were foiled last Tuesday when I went out to Ramona to take dairy cow photos for a commission. Because of the continuing high heat all of the cows were hanging out in the shade, not what I need!
Making the best of it, I took a detour out to the Buffalo Ranch hoping to get a good close up for a portrait I'd like to do. Do you think this is close enough????  Meet Harley, her mother died and she was raised by a human family. Still able to integrate into the herd she responds when called, how great is that? However, I think this might be a tad too close! Watch for some Buffalo paintings coming up in the near future though, as I did get a number of great shots! (Thanks Amie!) Tuesday, September 8
Out to take reference photos in Ramona this morning, Holsteins here I come!
by
therichartist
on Tue 08 Sep 2009 09:03 AM PDT
I've been commissioned to do a painting of Holstein cows on the beach, this should be great fun. The first thing I have to do though is take the photo reference that will work, as of course I'm not aware of any Dairy cows living at the beach, so it will involve a photo of Holsteins that can be painted into a beach scene.
Taking the photo reference is one of my favorite things, it always leaves me in a good mood and with a smile on my face. Unfortunately, I've had few windows of opportunity in which to photograph my bovine friends in anything but 100 plus degree heat lately. It looks like today is a small break, so I'm jumping on the chance to get the girls basking instead of wilting in the shade. Happy Holsteins, get ready to show me your good side, here I come with my camera! Monday, September 7
Labor Day, painting a Hereford calf live from the studio!
by
therichartist
on Mon 07 Sep 2009 08:54 AM PDT
Sunday, September 6
Labor Day Weekend, and I'm laboring! Working on a new Black Baldy Portrait live!
by
therichartist
on Sun 06 Sep 2009 09:45 AM PDT
I've spent a lot of time getting things together so I can broadcast more often from my studio. This morning I was up bright and early for a Sunday, loving the smell of oil paint in the morning, working on a new Black Baldy cow portrait.
Wednesday, September 2
New Work Series, American Bison - Buffalo by Denise Rich
by
therichartist
on Wed 02 Sep 2009 07:39 AM PDT
A new series is in progress to add to my Bovine art adventures. I've been gathering some interesting information about the American Bison, and have decided that it is most deserving of being center stage for a while. I have dabbled a bit, with a couple of pieces, one being the portrait that was accepted into the Bosque Art Classic seen in a previous post.
I like the look of the charcoal, and will be doing more, such as this new piece. From several hundred reference photos I have taken this is one of the first pieces finished, a portrait, charcoal on canvas. This has been specially treated and sealed so it does not need to be under glass, and can be framed in a traditional canvas frame, a feature I especially like, The charcoal on canvas, to me, has a completely different look and depth than charcoal on paper.  30"x40" Although it is charcoal, I wouldn't so much call it a drawing, as when I work with charcoal in this way I actually would describe it more as painting with the charcoal, similar to how pastels are called "pastel paintings". I like this so much I might like to do it as an oil painting as well. |
||||
|
|||||
