Guess what?
Deborah HH asked in the thread below whether I used my own chickens in the paintings I recently showed in town. I did indeed and, I must say, I was surprised and pleased at how well received they were.
I am become S. Weasel, Famous Painter of Chickens.
So it shames me to admit I cannot unravel the terrible central mystery of the chicken physique: how the HELL do all those poofy tailfeathers come out of that little dealie on the ass end of a chook?
I leave you to ponder. Have a good weekend!
Posted: September 1st, 2017 under animals, art, birds, personal.
Comments: 21
Comments
Comment from Some Vegetable
Time: September 1, 2017, 10:35 pm
Hey – don’t knock being a chicken painter !
Ito Jakuchu made quite a nice living at it. He did branch out into other things later but chickens are where he got started.
Comment from xul’s fedora
Time: September 1, 2017, 10:57 pm
The correct answer to ‘Guess what?’ Is always chicken butt. 😛
I’ve no idea how that many feathers fit on there, but it *is* the tastiest bit.
Comment from Ric Fan
Time: September 1, 2017, 10:57 pm
I’m surprised their feathers arent used in hats. They’re so beautiful. Plus, I like the sound of clucking.
Comment from S. Weasel
Time: September 1, 2017, 11:16 pm
Thank goodness, Xul. I didn’t know if anyone else knew that call and response.
Comment from Durnedyankee
Time: September 2, 2017, 12:14 am
So….you stuck all those feathers on the corpse and then painted it?
That’s kinda (pause) interesting.
That’s not what happened is it.
Oh and seriously if you do the paintings on line Mrs durned might have me cough up monies for it. Chickens are a decorating motif in Casa Damnedyankee.
Comment from Bob
Time: September 2, 2017, 1:15 am
I gather the spam filter does not like Youtube links? Or is it just me?
Certain banjo players may want to check out this group from Finland that plays AC/DC’s Thunderstruck on a banjo (and spoons and anvil)
Anyway, anyone who wants to see it can search for themselves.
Search for Thunderstruck by Steve’n’Seagulls.
Enjoy.
Comment from S. Weasel
Time: September 2, 2017, 7:00 am
Oh! I’m sorry, Bob – you posted before that you got stuck in the spam filter. I’ve just had a look, though, and I don’t see anything of yours in there.
I may, however, have hit ’empty’ before checking out Page 2. It’s…early.
Comment from Deborah HH
Time: September 2, 2017, 3:31 pm
Not that you need any ideas for paintings, but remember the photo that Uncle Badger took of one chicken, whose comb was so beautifully back-lit and gilded by the light—that would make a gorgeous painting. Also the photo of the four girls sorta piled on top of each other, sitting on a kitchen chair. I think you had let them inside because it was miserable cold and rainy outside.
Chicken art is more popular than I realized. We recently had a antique dealer come to the in-laws’ house to buy things, and she bought every piece of chicken “decor” and turned her nose up at the “duck” stuff. My daughter-in-law collects chicken art too. My favorite is a cotton feed sack that is printed with chickens.
Comment from Ric Fan
Time: September 2, 2017, 4:01 pm
Chickens and kittens:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UBwGCdPGgE
I wonder if chicken adopted kittens are less feral?
Comment from S. Weasel
Time: September 2, 2017, 5:57 pm
Just my luck, chicken art is super popular at the moment, Deborah. That means I’m going to look outdated as hell when it passes. Mama’s little ray of sunshine, me.
Being a provisional member of the art group, I only got to show two pieces this year. One of them wasn’t the picture you mentioned, but it was similar — with the glowing, backlighted comb. I have to admit, my very bestest cadmium red wasn’t really red enough to duplicate the effect.
Comment from DurnedYankee
Time: September 2, 2017, 5:59 pm
We even have a very brightly colored tin chicken which, uh, only once or twice maybe, uh, became a target for air soft madness when Mrs Durned left “Senior child” and sons #1 and #3 in charge while she for some reason went out shopping.
The pellets bounce off, unlike the lamp shade. Discovered one afternoon when outdoor fighting spilled into the house and two of us tried to clear the game room.
It’s a very nice chicken and you have to look real closely to see any dents.
Comment from Ric Fan
Time: September 2, 2017, 8:06 pm
“I have to admit, my very bestest cadmium red wasn’t really red enough to duplicate the effect.”
Watercolor, gouache, or oil? Maybe, you could do like the Renaissance masters and glaze until your colors glow? I like using cad red gouache for calligraphy. It’s like writing with soft butter. Very smooth.
Comment from Deborah HH
Time: September 2, 2017, 8:58 pm
Oh I’m so glad you painted a chicken with a bright comb. I’m pretty sure it will be loved forever, regardless of trends.
Comment from Ric Fan
Time: September 3, 2017, 11:28 pm
Cycling Brass Band:
Comment from Uncle Al
Time: September 4, 2017, 5:10 pm
Side note: “The Parson’s Nose”, eh? It seems it depends on your background. My down-to-the-bone Southern Baptist grandmother always referred to it as “The Pope’s Nose”. Bless her heart.
Comment from S. Weasel
Time: September 4, 2017, 8:47 pm
We always called it the “preacher’s nose”, but I knicked that picture off the internet, complete with label 😛
Watercolor, Ric Fan, but with gouache highlights. I’ve done oils and I’m just too damn lazy for all the prep and time and fuss, so I try to make watercolor act more like oil.
Very off-putting, though: Brits pronounce it “goo-ash”. I think I’ll have to call it “body color” or I’ll have a conniption.
Comment from Ric Fan
Time: September 4, 2017, 8:52 pm
An interesting grave marker. Thought you might need ideas for the future. 🙂 Also, note the portrait of death if you scroll down. Have you ever considered painting a fresco somewhere in your house so it can be discovered 500 years from now?
https://twitter.com/ChurchyardSam/status/903719488167829505
Here Lyeth the
Body of Stoaty the
wife of Badger
who Dyed
the X Day of X
Aged XX yeares
20XX
Comment from Ric Fan
Time: September 4, 2017, 9:00 pm
Watercolor, Ric Fan, but with gouache highlights. I’ve done oils and I’m just too damn lazy for all the prep and time and fuss, so I try to make watercolor act more like oil.
Tho you can glaze with watercolor, I dont think you can get that glow effect except with oils or tempura which is watercolor, so what the hell do I know? LOL
Very off-putting, though: Brits pronounce it “goo-ash”. I think I’ll have to call it “body color” or I’ll have a conniption.
I love our pronunciation of gouache. Sounds like guano. Guano was necessary for armaments manufacture during WW2, so if you were lucky enough to own some rock outcrop off the Calif coast, covered with it, you were rich!
Comment from Rich Rostrom
Time: September 6, 2017, 12:32 am
Ric Fan: guano is a big source of nitrates, which are used in explosives and fertilizers, but have not been necessary for either since the invention of the Haber process, which converts atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia. Haber, a German, invented the process just in time for Germany to avoid running out of explosives or starving to death during WW I.
Many tropical islets were covered with immense deposits of guano left by sea birds, and these islets were prized and lucrative possessions. In 1864-1866, Spain fought a Guano War with Peru and Bolivia over the Chincha Islands.
Comment from Rich Rostrom
Time: September 6, 2017, 12:53 am
Feathers are remarkable. Consider the complex visual design of a peacock’s tail. Each feather, with its precisely arranged areas of different colors, issues from s single follicle.
Comment from Ric Fan
Time: September 6, 2017, 3:17 pm
Rich: I’m pretty sure that it was important during WW2, too. In contracts law you have to read a bunch of guano cases and they were all in the 1940s. I love old WW2 cases. There is a famous tort case where some sailors got drunk in a room in the St Francis Hotel, SF, and threw a couch out the window. Unfortunately, it landed on someone.
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