I’ve been working on some Texas related drawings lately and thought I’d post a couple of them. The first one is of a Texas longhorn cow done with a fine point Sharpie pen. We have a family of three of these amazing animals down the road from us. We often stop and talk to them when we go for our two mile walks.
There are a bull, a cow, and young bull calf in this lovely family unit. Their horns are just huge and sometimes they put them to good use by delicately scratching hard to reach parts of their bodies with the tips. Such beautiful colors in their hides too—tans, browns, rusts— with lots of spots.
They always solemnly observe us as we go by. My husband’s grandfather had a large ranch in Gilroy, California, back in the ’40s and ’50s and my husband used to help him with the cattle in the summertime. Grandpa Joe told him that the cattle were much more at ease with a rider on horseback than with a person just walking around them. It seems that us two-legged humans just ain’t natural, in their eyes. Maybe that’s why this threesome stares at us with such interest when we pass by.
A couple of Christmases ago we went to the local parade in town where all the entries are decked out in lights. One entry was a big longhorn that had a saddle and rider on board, with Christmas lights strung between its horns. Very festive!
The other is a quick pencil sketch of a cowboy on his horse. It’s from an old photograph that I found when searching images on Google.
I liked the way he sat in the saddle–kind of self-assured and relaxed. There’s just something about a cowboy, isn’t there?
I Tried Being Tasteful... 