Painting Cute Cows on Fabric

I've had a request by someone to design some cows for a farm themed kitchen they were decorating. A couple of blogs ago I showed you how to draw two cute cows step by step. I transferred these drawings onto fabric before painting them in some mad bright colors. Let me show you how to make your own version of this in today's blog.

I cut a length of fabric (cotton) measuring 75 cm x 35 cm. I then started drawing the cows on the fabric using an HB pencil. Tip: if the size of the fabric is daunting, fold the fabric into manageable sizes and unfold as the drawing progresses. Many people find it difficult to work on sizes other than A4. Our schooling 'condition' us to be familiar with A4 and nothing else. Force yourself to work in different sizes and you will soon overcome this problem.

This is what the design looks like with the first cow drawn on fabric.

I fitted the second cow in next to the first one.

My design was now ready to be painted.

I used Dala Fabric Paint to paint the cows with. I started with Red on the first cow's spots.

I used watermelon to paint the insides of the mouths, ears and the udders. I love using an Angle Brush. This brush gives you a broad flat side to fill space easily. It also allows for precision painting on lines. And it gives you a fine point for detailed work.

The spots on the second cow was painted with Donnington Blue.

The first cow was then painted in Teal.

The second cow was painted Jade.

The second cow's feet, horns, fringe and nose was painted Blue.

The first cow received a different shade of blue to guard against monotony, having the same areas painted in Cyan.

The detail on the udders was painted Fuchsia.

The pupils and nostrils was painted black.

The whites of the eyes and the sparkles in the eyes were painted White. Reflective white was also painted on the feet and in the nostrils.

The whole background was painted Yellow. For the larger spaces in the background I use a large flat brush.

With all the colors painted in the painting looked like this.

These cows are cartoon caricatures and accentuating them with a black line would be appropriate. There are a few options open. I could use a black Acrilpen.

Another alternative would be to use one of the range of black Posca Markers. I settled on a Black Posca marker with a bullet point.

This is what the seated cow looks like with a black outline added.

The standing cow looks like this with a black outline. Note that I drew the luscious lushes with the marker as well.

I decided that I wanted to earth the cows so they would not appear to be floating in space. Not having green, I mixed my own shade of green with Blue and Yellow.

I draw the grasses in with the marker.

I do not fully mix the paint, but allow it to create natural shades by leaving it half-mixed.

The grass is painted in quick upward strokes, not filling the space exactly.

The finished project! This was sheer fun. May you enjoy it as much as I did. To set the colors, iron the fabric with a hot iron. The first wash should have salt added to the wash. Salt and heat sets color.

For more crafty ideas and great products, visit APrettyTalent.com.
Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making PRETTY things.
You can subscribe to this blog and receive regular updates by email by simply registering your email address at the top of the current blog.