Still Life with Antler and Red Pitcher

Still Life with Antler and Red Pitcher
18 x 14 inches, Oil on board. © 2011 Kathleen Coy

This is the first still life I've painted in a very, very long time. In all of my animal paintings, I work from photos out of necessity. Over the last year, I've become more interested in painting from life. I enjoyed painting this still life so much, that it will NOT be a very, very long time before I paint another one.

This painting is being displayed at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, during the month of March as part of the Nebraska Women's Caucus for Art's group show.

Here is a photo of the set up. My mother found the antler during a walk in the woods last year. I'm sure most of you know that male deer lose their antlers every winter and regrow them in the late spring and summer. The sagebrush in the vase is from Montana, and was given to me by a friend. The antler and the sage lend enough of a "nature" feeling, that even though this is far from my usual subject matter, this painting feels like me.

My favorite painting of Cloud yet!

Turning on the Charm
18 x 14 inch oil on board. © 2011 Kathleen Coy

I couldn't resist painting this pose of my Rat Terrier, Cloud. He has the most expressive face I've ever seen. This is the sixth painting I've done of him (he is my little muse), and it is my favorite one to date.

Here are a few work in progress photos. In this one, I've laid down some background color and started painting his face.


Now I'm blocking in the main colors, trying not to get too detailed, but paying attention to the way the light falls on his fur. Oh those ears, how I love them!


Most of his face is blocked in now. The next step is to go back and refine everything.


And the finished painting. Not much in the way of a background because I wanted all the focus to be on Cloud. His head and neck have a nice solid sense of form to them, more so than some of my older pieces I think.

I hope you've enjoyed the painting and this series of photos.

Much love,

Wordless Wednesday - Still Life