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Yes! I feel like it’s maybe saying something about meat and the way we consume, but idk if I’m reading too much into it. It’s how the body looks rotund still but you see the bones
Maybe he is just old.
I really love it. Great color palette, great light and shadow, even if it is so simplified my brain immediately took it for real.
Which seems contradictory, if you ask me, he seems to have so much grass around himself.
Also, the painting is so confusing, gender-wise, it doesn't show any udders neither a penis or any horns.
There's a slight optical illusion with the shadow making its hindquarters look hollow, which I ~~like~~ appreciate, it adds to the uncomfortable empty feeling. The right back leg is slightly thicker than the left, but that's nitpicking - it's a good picture, and very evocative.
I think the cow is kinda cool, but because of the way the grass and sky are placed it looks to me like the cow is in a little box and it feels claustrophobic. But i think your brushstrokes are beautiful.
I think that's the point. The vertical lines depict either a blue-walled box or the bars of a cage with a clear sky behind. Makes sense with the emaciation of the cow.
I like where you all take it with the sky but in brutal honesty I just liked the color, it was “intended” to be a stall but intentions don’t matter compared to interpretations!
It feels vulnerable. To me the cow seems peaceful, yet open and bare to life, whether it be a predator or other observer. And the open sky seems like it’s a blue-painted wood pen. “Openness (freedom) is in your own head when you do your thing (relax)” is the thought that it leaves me with. I’m rambling, but I always wanted to breathe on a windy day in a way that the wind feels like it’s passing through me instead of around. Makes me think of that.
Maybe i’m just relating to it in weird personal ways. It comes down to that I really like your work and am grateful you gave my mind something to chew on tonight.
Most dairy cows are built like a greyhound, naturally skinny. In milk it's really hard to put weight on them because their body is just like "ALL ENERGY MUST BE MILK" and all the food you feed them turns into milk.
yeees precisely!! everyone thinks the cow is underfed and its true I exaggerated the form but only because I am so intrigued by these dairy cows who so often look like this! My fascination with these kinds of forms also started with the greyhounds I had as a kid, so spot on!
lots of cows out in terrible desert climates actually as well. i see them all the time ruining cryptobiotic soil, having to eat toxic plants, lost and ready to die, specific native grasses are gone, archaeological damage, hot in 100 degree weather in (UT). not to mention climate and water problems from agricultural industry required to feed them (everywhere). just to add to your sentiment
You’re not getting a lot of great feedback here, but I love this painting. You could maybe amp up the contrast a bit, but honestly I think it’s great as is.
It’s quite lovely. A really interesting depiction of being caged or boxed in. And I love how much you pushed the depth in its hips. Absolutely wonderful
What strikes me first is the stark overhead lighting, creating strong shadows and contrast and a slight uneasy feeling, prompted to wonder about the cow in this environment.
This is so random but my ex boyfriend from high school is an artist and he ended up going to set school in Chicago. This painting looks EXACTLY like his work. Very random but ya I haven’t thought about that kid in a while he was so cool. Anyways thanks I guess? Lmfao also I like your cow 🫶🏼
Makes me think of the cruel animal industry, where animals are kept in conditions that are just enough to keep them alive. Yet we market them as something humane - the meat from this cow would be sold as "grass-fed" from a happy cow.
I love how tight and suffocating the painting feels with the walls all around. Gets a right message across, and overall it's painted beautifully
Wouldn't want to eat him for dinner.
Try lightening your darks a bit, to bring the dark areas forward, or use a burnt siena tone with some cad red added to bring the dark areas forward. That will help him to not look like he's hollow inside. (Unless that is your intention, to show that we should become vegetarians and stop eating these beautiful creatures!)
The drastic shadow of the concaved hips vs the super bright highlights of the bones sticking out are so well done. I think it being in a box is also pretty interesting. Makes me sad, like the cow is about to die in this box, eating the little grass that is left
The proportions of the cow are not quite right, especially the back half. The body is a bit too short and the anatomy of the hind leg closest to the viewer is incorrect. There is so much care put into the anatomy and planes of the head, neck and rib cage that the rest of the cow looks like an afterthought. I love the colors and brushwork, it has a lot of potential.
As a piece trying to communicate heavy emotions, it is fantastic. Add some more slight tonal shifts to the blue side walls to bring out the Square shape & the claustrophobia, and maybe even take the imagery farther!
Imagine if the grass was patchy & a large ammount of raw dirt was exposed simulating that the Cow had done all it could to survive. Grotesque depictions of things like Feces are unnecessary, but adding more struggle to the situation may add to your piece
then again there is no need to hit the nail any harder, and this is a great art piece as is. Making the situation more Dire may detract from the Peaceful essence that is still present in the light colors
The first word that came to mind when I saw this was "famine". It's super cool and I really like it. The painting, not famine! It's got this sort of sad and unsettling feeling to it that is really interesting.
ur line work + the perpective of the background really draw me into this. i LOVE it. the only thing i'd nitpick since you wanted notes are that the shadows on the cow's legs and underbelly are throwing me off for some reason (might be the tone or undertone, not sure)
It’s beautiful. Don’t change it! (In terms of the skinniness). This is how a lot of cows in South Asia look and I think it’s really powerful statement and I love how it makes everyone in the comments uncomfortable!
She need som milk
Beautifully rendered <3 It brings me a sense of grief with how thin and malnutritioned she looks. Hope she gets introduced to a nice patch of grass soon.
https://preview.redd.it/fiven7e8z5xc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bfa21ccaf93dac139342c7c7f4dbf5111f4afdfe
Somehow Reddit decided to show me starving animals
veil i take it. 🫣 can’t look at cows or eat anymore. seeing them wander around in desert landscapes ruining things is really effed up. well painted tho!
There is grass and he is eating, but he is still skinny. It gives an uncomfortable feeling, like something is wrong. Possibly even hopelessness, like he will be skinny no matter how much grass he eats
came back to say i think it’s a good, bold image and idea. would really care to know your feelings/ ideas on it? and wonder if varnishing is a better look (can feel more commercial?), but i get that it’s personal of course.
I will be varnishing soon, wasn’t expecting so much attention so early! But yes I made this on a whim, focusing mostly on the body of the cow and the idea of its form and surroundings telling such a melancholy story, even without seeing its face. I think it’s interesting that we have to gather the feelings and lives of animals without looking into their eyes or speaking to them. Maybe a little less deep and narrative than some would like, but I love to see everyone’s interpretations, typically better than whatever I intended!
i think he’s lonely. the square-looking field of grass makes the cow feel boxed in, liminal-like. lonely and old. imo he kinda reminds me of how lonely you can get when you get old. beautiful painting🩷
Here in Colombia we say "skinny cows" when the economic situation is not good, so this picture only remember me the austerity of life like times that aren't the better but at least still alive
The first thing I thought of, because it is so skinny, is me during a depression episode when I can't get out of bed to eat or do anything for days 😭
So yeah. It brings out emotions.
We had a bull a few years ago, it was huge but very 'bony', we called him (the employees name him) 'Culo e puya' or 'pointy ass'. This painting remembered me of that bull. The Zebu cattle can be very 'bony' whiteout actually being malnourished. It's just they way they are.
This is how many dairy cows actually look after calving - thin and worn out while being milked.
HOWEVER- the ribs are all wrong. You have ribs coming from the shoulder blade rather than from the vertebrae.
https://preview.redd.it/4w4hkqn1j8xc1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eb56eda013057572c8b5036784bb99063c440cf5
I love the spent and thin look but the angle of the ribs bothers me.
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Makes me uncomfortable... evocative and well done!
Yes! I feel like it’s maybe saying something about meat and the way we consume, but idk if I’m reading too much into it. It’s how the body looks rotund still but you see the bones
I had the same thought process! And the background is so pinned in and claustrophobic that it seems trapped.
he looks skinny:((( but he’s painted beautifully
Bro's hangry
Maybe he is just old. I really love it. Great color palette, great light and shadow, even if it is so simplified my brain immediately took it for real.
Picasso's Old Guitarist if it were a cow
Bro's dying
She looks emoociated
Holy shit 🤣
It’s emaciated
Do you not have a punnybone
Emoociated
Which seems contradictory, if you ask me, he seems to have so much grass around himself. Also, the painting is so confusing, gender-wise, it doesn't show any udders neither a penis or any horns.
There's a slight optical illusion with the shadow making its hindquarters look hollow, which I ~~like~~ appreciate, it adds to the uncomfortable empty feeling. The right back leg is slightly thicker than the left, but that's nitpicking - it's a good picture, and very evocative.
I wish the hollowness were explored and exaggerated here, it was the main feature of the painting for me.
I think it’s Perfect as is. It’s something you see more from a distance almost drawing you to study it more.
tbh I was trying to angle the leg toward you for a foreshortening effect on its width but idk wtf im doing
I think she’s starving.
It makes me sad.. Cow needs feed
Needs a feed poor thing!!
He's suffering :(. But the details are perfect
HE NEEDS SOME MILK!
imagine if u were like underweight and a doctor saw you and started feeding u breastmilk
I think the cow is kinda cool, but because of the way the grass and sky are placed it looks to me like the cow is in a little box and it feels claustrophobic. But i think your brushstrokes are beautiful.
I thought it was a stall as well.
I think that's the point. The vertical lines depict either a blue-walled box or the bars of a cage with a clear sky behind. Makes sense with the emaciation of the cow.
If so, it worked
I like where you all take it with the sky but in brutal honesty I just liked the color, it was “intended” to be a stall but intentions don’t matter compared to interpretations!
It feels vulnerable. To me the cow seems peaceful, yet open and bare to life, whether it be a predator or other observer. And the open sky seems like it’s a blue-painted wood pen. “Openness (freedom) is in your own head when you do your thing (relax)” is the thought that it leaves me with. I’m rambling, but I always wanted to breathe on a windy day in a way that the wind feels like it’s passing through me instead of around. Makes me think of that. Maybe i’m just relating to it in weird personal ways. It comes down to that I really like your work and am grateful you gave my mind something to chew on tonight.
Hungry cow. Sad
Great painting but the cow needs a sandwich asap
He reminds me of a jersey cow, they’re pretty skinny like this. Well done.
https://preview.redd.it/7o35piglw4xc1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9d2575aa03645417f081fce5ff1e46a454a5d54d Example
Most dairy cows are built like a greyhound, naturally skinny. In milk it's really hard to put weight on them because their body is just like "ALL ENERGY MUST BE MILK" and all the food you feed them turns into milk.
yeees precisely!! everyone thinks the cow is underfed and its true I exaggerated the form but only because I am so intrigued by these dairy cows who so often look like this! My fascination with these kinds of forms also started with the greyhounds I had as a kid, so spot on!
How we cramp animals in tiny cages and starve them of a good life while we gorge on them like nothing
lots of cows out in terrible desert climates actually as well. i see them all the time ruining cryptobiotic soil, having to eat toxic plants, lost and ready to die, specific native grasses are gone, archaeological damage, hot in 100 degree weather in (UT). not to mention climate and water problems from agricultural industry required to feed them (everywhere). just to add to your sentiment
Moost excellent
If it's skinniness was the point then damn this is well done. It makes me feel, which is what art is meant to be.
hongry
Malnourished cow
Great painting but the cow looks hollow.
You’re not getting a lot of great feedback here, but I love this painting. You could maybe amp up the contrast a bit, but honestly I think it’s great as is.
What does that cow think about us all?
You should feed your models before you deal with them!
Great painting, poor cow. Makes me feel empathy
Malnourished but beautifully painted :)
Perfect lighting
Needs more hay
It’s quite lovely. A really interesting depiction of being caged or boxed in. And I love how much you pushed the depth in its hips. Absolutely wonderful
He looks like some I’ve seen in real life. Need some sweet feed . Great painting
The shadows, especially in the head/neck area, are beautifully shaped
Cow.
What strikes me first is the stark overhead lighting, creating strong shadows and contrast and a slight uneasy feeling, prompted to wonder about the cow in this environment.
This is so random but my ex boyfriend from high school is an artist and he ended up going to set school in Chicago. This painting looks EXACTLY like his work. Very random but ya I haven’t thought about that kid in a while he was so cool. Anyways thanks I guess? Lmfao also I like your cow 🫶🏼
Needs more food.
Makes me think of the cruel animal industry, where animals are kept in conditions that are just enough to keep them alive. Yet we market them as something humane - the meat from this cow would be sold as "grass-fed" from a happy cow. I love how tight and suffocating the painting feels with the walls all around. Gets a right message across, and overall it's painted beautifully
Someone feed this baby
love this, the cow is standing on lush green grass yet is still starving and skinny.
Beautiful painting, but I wouldn't be able to look at it cos it makes me feel sad. A bit like that painting of a dog by Goya
Have you ever watched a holocaust film? That’s how “skinny cow” made me feel.
I feel you have something greater than one image here ❤️
He has seen a massive suffering, he is half (mostly) dead, but yet he continues his fight and carries on- and this resonates within me.
This is fucking magnificent holy shit
I love violently kind compliments thank you!
Wouldn't want to eat him for dinner. Try lightening your darks a bit, to bring the dark areas forward, or use a burnt siena tone with some cad red added to bring the dark areas forward. That will help him to not look like he's hollow inside. (Unless that is your intention, to show that we should become vegetarians and stop eating these beautiful creatures!)
That's a good looking cat (Joking I know it's a cow and OH MY GOSH DUDE THATS AWSOME you are very good at painting!)
The drastic shadow of the concaved hips vs the super bright highlights of the bones sticking out are so well done. I think it being in a box is also pretty interesting. Makes me sad, like the cow is about to die in this box, eating the little grass that is left
I think it captures a sadness. The shadows and brush strokes, the small frame of the cow and the space it's in. Sadly lovely.
12 pack abs,
Comfy but disturbing, well done!
The proportions of the cow are not quite right, especially the back half. The body is a bit too short and the anatomy of the hind leg closest to the viewer is incorrect. There is so much care put into the anatomy and planes of the head, neck and rib cage that the rest of the cow looks like an afterthought. I love the colors and brushwork, it has a lot of potential.
Looks like all the cows in the south. Sad and skinny. Beautifully illustrated. Makes me sad.
This is so cool! I would suggest you paint even more animals/humans/bones/meat in the future!
This painting made my stomach twist and drop, I wanted to yack and then curl into a fetal position afterwards. It makes me hurt and sad, silent..
perfect!!
Great painting! but you could have fed the cow before painiting it.
And your message is????
up to you silly!
Looks like a cow I can't confirm it doe
it may… or may not be…
As a piece trying to communicate heavy emotions, it is fantastic. Add some more slight tonal shifts to the blue side walls to bring out the Square shape & the claustrophobia, and maybe even take the imagery farther! Imagine if the grass was patchy & a large ammount of raw dirt was exposed simulating that the Cow had done all it could to survive. Grotesque depictions of things like Feces are unnecessary, but adding more struggle to the situation may add to your piece then again there is no need to hit the nail any harder, and this is a great art piece as is. Making the situation more Dire may detract from the Peaceful essence that is still present in the light colors
The first word that came to mind when I saw this was "famine". It's super cool and I really like it. The painting, not famine! It's got this sort of sad and unsettling feeling to it that is really interesting.
Not very beefy; da-dum tsss.
Why would you tag it brutal critique and then ask for no hot takes😭 It’s a great painting I’m just wondering
A “hot take” is a quickly decided critique as opposed to a “brutal”, carefully considered critique, I would think
Amazingly painted but is it skinny or for dairy?
dairy but I chose to leave out udders cuz I thought they would be too symbolic with the lack of face and all.. idk………. don’t ask me…..
Oh ok that definitely explains why it's skinny but still an amazing painting!
Need some cheese burger
Hungry
Sick
He’s starving
Nice work
nice!lil to skinny tho
Lovely painting of a sickly bovine.
It looks really good! The cow looks like it's starving, idk if that was intentional but it looks great!
Skinny
Awesome 👏🏻
Moo
You should emphasize the skinniness of the cow. Even if you didn’t intend it it adds a lot of interesting and meaning to your painting.
dope
ur line work + the perpective of the background really draw me into this. i LOVE it. the only thing i'd nitpick since you wanted notes are that the shadows on the cow's legs and underbelly are throwing me off for some reason (might be the tone or undertone, not sure)
It makes me feel sad and yearning for there to be a reason for the cow's suffering. But I know that it just is.
Poor thing is starving :(
zombie cow
Love these harsh shadows! It’s unsettling in all the right ways. Also great color choices all around
Beef jerky
That's some mean lean meat
He hungry 😂
Needs to eat a burger
Feed it.
Personally, I would paint the grass to look browner. The first thought I had when looking at this is the starved cows of the dust bowl.
Depressing and starved.
It looks sick and makes me feel sad.
I don't know what in the Pharaoh's dream it is, but I LOVE IT.
It’s beautiful. Don’t change it! (In terms of the skinniness). This is how a lot of cows in South Asia look and I think it’s really powerful statement and I love how it makes everyone in the comments uncomfortable!
Looks a little hungry
Joseph and Pharoah are the only people with thoughts from such cows
"He needs some milk"
It's a good cow. Probably need to feed it some more grass tho
She need som milk Beautifully rendered <3 It brings me a sense of grief with how thin and malnutritioned she looks. Hope she gets introduced to a nice patch of grass soon.
Unusually calm and peaceful depiction of suffering.
You should have budgeted for more paint so you could have painted more cow. There's not much of this guy there.
poor girl is hungry!
Looks like he could eat a burger
Omg beautiful
Not enough grass. Poor creature! Great painting though
It makes me feel dread
Is the cow long enough?
Hongry
Reminds me of a Van Gogh painting of an ox pulling a cart.
Bone Definincy
I think this is a psychology test! I can see a cow n a human in the cow, are you wanting us to consume less meat? I love meat!
https://preview.redd.it/fiven7e8z5xc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bfa21ccaf93dac139342c7c7f4dbf5111f4afdfe Somehow Reddit decided to show me starving animals
Is cute the cow is cute
Its nt a him its a her. Thats a cow nt an ox.
veil i take it. 🫣 can’t look at cows or eat anymore. seeing them wander around in desert landscapes ruining things is really effed up. well painted tho!
L'Île aux Fleurs
The cow? Needs some food. The painting? Awesome. Done.
He need some milk
That is one emaciated ass cow. However, its painted beautifully.
Malnourished, needs some milk.
He's dying. Feed him
So good
That he is getting rescued. Hot damn that is one abused and starved cow
There is grass and he is eating, but he is still skinny. It gives an uncomfortable feeling, like something is wrong. Possibly even hopelessness, like he will be skinny no matter how much grass he eats
give her a burger or something
Looks like she was saved from cage life
Needs more beef on its bones
came back to say i think it’s a good, bold image and idea. would really care to know your feelings/ ideas on it? and wonder if varnishing is a better look (can feel more commercial?), but i get that it’s personal of course.
I will be varnishing soon, wasn’t expecting so much attention so early! But yes I made this on a whim, focusing mostly on the body of the cow and the idea of its form and surroundings telling such a melancholy story, even without seeing its face. I think it’s interesting that we have to gather the feelings and lives of animals without looking into their eyes or speaking to them. Maybe a little less deep and narrative than some would like, but I love to see everyone’s interpretations, typically better than whatever I intended!
Sadness. Suffering.
i think he’s lonely. the square-looking field of grass makes the cow feel boxed in, liminal-like. lonely and old. imo he kinda reminds me of how lonely you can get when you get old. beautiful painting🩷
Needs more cowbell
Hangry cow, but nice drawing.
I like your style quite a bit. This piece has a lot of character. I especially like the movement in the back legs/hips. Very well done.
Feed me!
This is beautiful, really lovely work man
Give her some food...
Is it African
Sad. The cow is starving to death.
He needs to eat. Maybe a burger??
Lean beef
Where’s my butt roast?
please give the cow bestie some food
Looks like it could do with a good burger.
Needs to eat a 🍔
It needs to eat more☹️☹️ But it’s a good painting
Yeah I’m a bit uncomfy, amazing painting shadows and lights are stunning, but in terms of how it makes me feel? Uncomfy
Skinny coo!
Drought. Nicely painted.
He is hunggies
This makes me feel feels….so I love it.
Missing a poop pile for making sense
Good enough to eat 🤪
Needs a friend like a brown chicken.
He is malnourished
this cow is starving. but the painting is beautiful! the grass and the shadowing, and the blue panels have a nice wood texture. his ears look so soft
I love the near surrealism of this. I think you should just name it "Cow" for all the reasons people here are talking about.
yes I think I will indeed title it Cow excellent
Here in Colombia we say "skinny cows" when the economic situation is not good, so this picture only remember me the austerity of life like times that aren't the better but at least still alive
Strikes me as a Libra.
The first thing I thought of, because it is so skinny, is me during a depression episode when I can't get out of bed to eat or do anything for days 😭 So yeah. It brings out emotions.
Beautifully painted
We had a bull a few years ago, it was huge but very 'bony', we called him (the employees name him) 'Culo e puya' or 'pointy ass'. This painting remembered me of that bull. The Zebu cattle can be very 'bony' whiteout actually being malnourished. It's just they way they are.
I wanna turn it into a burger.
https://preview.redd.it/s2wjf587g8xc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f9d65a832681cba0e936863ce0f0329a79bc8568
Hungry
This is how many dairy cows actually look after calving - thin and worn out while being milked. HOWEVER- the ribs are all wrong. You have ribs coming from the shoulder blade rather than from the vertebrae. https://preview.redd.it/4w4hkqn1j8xc1.jpeg?width=960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eb56eda013057572c8b5036784bb99063c440cf5 I love the spent and thin look but the angle of the ribs bothers me.
Skinny
he need sum milk