Porcine Glance

 Pastel on Clairefontaine Pastelmat, 13 x 19 inches

The second in my current series of animal portraits, this one is of one of my favourite pals, a lovely Gloucester Old Spot sow that resides in her special meadow with lots of mud and old hat bales to snuffle through.

Because of the shapes of their mouths, pigs always seem to have a grin on their faces, and thus by their nature, make great subjects to paint. The hairy coats are a little more tricky to portray with Pastel sticks, and would probably be easier to paint in Oils, but in general, the pastel medium is sympathetic for animal studies.

In such paintings, I try to exploit plenty of counterchange - where the animal has a dark edge, I put a light background against it, and where the edge is light, I'll put a dark background next to it. This ploy isn't stuck to too ridgedly, and sometimes a 'lost edge' is good to include, but it is a useful device to give the impression of three dimensions and to add drama to the composition.