All American - "tweaked"

"All American"
24" x 36" oil on gessoed masonite
Xanadu Gallery

You probably can't tell much difference, but I went in and tweaked a few things that were bothering me... you artists will understand. Then, when I was retrieving it from it's 'safe' drying place, I scratched paint off of the lariat on the red guy! Will patch that today. I think this painting just likes to hang around my studio and visit with me!

All American - finished!

"All American"
24" x 36" oil on gessoed masonite

Yippee! I can finally post this as a finished piece. Sometimes larger, more complex pieces like this just take a while... mainly because I get distracted into starting other paintings. I just love to start them, but then when I get 80-90% finished, they say pretty much what I want them to say and I have to talk myself into finishing. I know...I'm just a little bit crazy!

I particularly like the way this high school rodeo instructor turned out. And to think...I actually thought about cutting him out of the composition. Glad I didn't!

What I like best about these guys is the way you can feel the bodies inside the shirts because of the way they are leaning over... and you just got to love those fannies in Wranglers!
There exists a nice visual between this blonde bull and the cream outfit of the instructor and the fact that they are both looking out of the painting in opposite directions. Just a way of reminding the viewer that we are only seeing a slice of the activities that go on at a rodeo.

Heads or Tails

"Heads or Tails"
8" x 10" acrylic on gessoed masonite
Xanadu Gallery

This is the first in a series of high school rodeo paintings that I'm doing. The bright afternoon sun was low in the sky and casting fantastic shadows across everything, including these roping steers that were waiting for the events to start... reluctantly, I'm sure. I was very glad to see that the High School Rodeo Association put protective headgear on these steers to prevent rope burns when they were lassoed.