Hen Run

Another small painting. Same as last time, 27.5 x 21.5 cm, and about an hour and a half to paint it. I didn’t have a subject in mind, so I painted the hen run at the end of the garden. We only have 4 hens at the moment. I added a few more for effect. Not that you can see any particular hen, its suggested hens.

I thought this was going to be a quick painting, but I got more involved once I started. The chicken-wire might be a cause of concern. Chicken-wire is a fine mesh which can’t be seen, even relatively close. If you move your head you can see it against the background. Its really too fine to be painted. So do you include it in a painting, as the viewer of the painting is stationary? Well I did include it for a number of reasons. We expect it to be there. When we view the scene in real life, by focusing or moving against the background, we establish its presence. Now we no longer need to see it, because we know its there. The viewer can’t do this when viewing the painting. As I said, the wire is too fine to be painted with a brush, so I scratched a pattern in the background with a knife. This pattern of diagonal scratches is on the background, but as the background image is not altered, the fine lines are detached – ah!, chicken wire.

The colours are: Burnt Sienna (red), Yellow Ochre (yellow) and Cobalt Blue (blue). Also included, Chrome Green Light and Raw Umber and black and white. As the Chrome Green is such a noticeable colour I included it in the sky to harmonize colours.

I’ve included the video of the process of painting. I hope it explains the process better than words.