The Nguni cow’s portrait

Nguni Portrait – Ink on paper, A3 200gsm.

I had the opportunity recently to paint cows again for a commissioned ink work, which is now in its home in Hermanus enjoying the ocean air.

Some notes on the process:

1. A fairly rough sketch in 5B pencil on some paper to warm up and have a better look at the image – hey bingo, a separate artwork (below).
2. Plot the basic lines in 2H pencil on the A3 paper using a light box (read: my window) and the reference image for proportion accuracies.
3. Ink time! Start with large areas of washes in very watered down ink where the darkest areas/shadows lie in the image.
4. Work on layers, painting smaller areas but darker shades, building up the details.
5. Work
6. Work
7. Work
8. Use your finest paintbrush, add the detailed finishing lines, like lashes and stray hairs.
9. Sign.
10. Hey pesto. Nguni portrait done 🙂

Practice sketch

All images are © Amy Slatem.