In August, our plein air group visited Detering Orchards, south of Harrisburg, to paint. They’re known for their peach trees, abundant fruit and veggies for sale in their produce stand.
After wandering the grounds looking for something to paint I came upon their photogenic and friendly goats!
These two are silky fainting goats.
Playing with Peaches, my eventual goat model.
Peaches the goat (below) settled down and I was able to sketch her up quickly onto a 10 x 10 inch canvas.
Blackberry, her brother was posing nicely too, but I only had time to start one painting that day.
As you can see, modeling is hard work, and it is very hard to hold still for any length of time. I was glad Peaches stayed in one spot for a while, so I was able to work quickly to capture the light and colors.
First off I did quick washes of watercolor on the canvas over my pastel pencil sketch planning to use soft pastels once the watercolor was dry.
I think Blackberry was mad at me for giving Peaches so much attention…
That’s right Peaches, go ahead and gloat…
The finished painting: Peaches – now showing at The LaSells Stewart Center through October 30th, 2015.
Jana R. Johnson, Artist 