Creative Color Observational Animal

This is an observational portrait of an ox that I created by observing a figurine. The assignment for this project was to experiment with nontraditional colors and so I used blues and greens where brown and white colors appeared on the figurine. I used oil paint sticks for my medium.

In creating this piece I first sketched the outlines in hard graphite. I then added blue and purple paint to the dark places and green and white paint to the light places with the exception of the horns which are lighter colored in reality. I then smudged the colors with my fingers to blend them and create smooth transitions. My last step in creating the subject of the piece was adding dark lowlights to show the rolls of skin on the neck and body. When this was completed, I created a gradient background of brown, red, orange and yellow. I chose these colors because I knew that they would complement the colors of the ox itself and create better contrast. Color was the most important element of this piece with texture being secondary but necessary to show the difference between the hair and horns of the ox. The rule of thirds can be seen here in that the ox is positioned in the bottom left corner, leaving space in the bottom right and top of the piece. This piece evolved in that I initially created a version using more random colors—brown, purple, red, yellow—in random places. I also didn't use white and I didn't blend. This created a mess of colors which ended up looking dark and brown. When I restarted, I put more thought into my colors, and made everything lighter.

I chose to draw this ox because I liked the way the horns stuck out from the head and I thought they would make for an interesting composition. The piece relates to my life in that when I was little, I would go to the farm with my brother to look at the cows, which much resembled the ox depicted here. I think that this piece could be stronger if the whole canvas was colored; there are a few white spaces between contrasting colors. The most challenging part of the process was blending the right amount of white paint to create the desired shade of color. I am most proud of the lowlights on the ox's side which I think look realistic, and of the facial composition. This piece shows my strength as an artist in my ability to work with nontraditional colors, and it shows weakness in small uncovered spaces.