Cheri Christensen: Highlight

What fun to do this unique video of Cheri painting a cow, of all things. "Marshmellow," the cow, is indeed, a beautiful subject and what better to illustrate the principles of painting backlighting, which Cheri does in a masterful fashion using Russian Impressionist Tradition techniques.

Cheri is well known for doing beautiful and expressive paints of her friendly barnyard animals and this is no exception. It was a beautiful moment caught in a photograph with the cow and sun in just the right position to illustrate Marshmellow's beautiful nature and the sun's effect in the background, as it presents so many highlights to make this demonstration painting an absolute delight to watch.

If you've ever wanted to either paint a large animal or to better understand the challenge of painting backlighting, this is a video that you are sure to enjoy.

Cheri studied oil painting intensely for three years with Ron Lukas, a protege of Sergei Bongart, who taught in the tradition of the Russian Impressionists. In her studies, Cheri concentrated on seeing and conveying the effects of color and light on forms.

The first painting she submitted to a competition was included in a prestigious exhibition at the Charles and Emma Frye Art Museum in Seattle, and the first painting to include animals received the Beatrice Jackson Memorial award for Best Traditional Landscape in the Allied Artists of America 1995 show. She has since gone on to be represented in and win awards in numerous regional, national, and international shows.

In her own words…
“I am inspired by the simple, everyday interaction of the animals in their environment; the way that light dances across the form, the harmony of color relationships, and the shapes of light and shadow. I prefer early-morning light or late afternoon settings, with extreme back-lighting. My focus is on the farm animals and the use of color, light, and the texture of the oil paint to convey a mood."

If you've ever wanted to either paint a large animal or to better understand the challenge of painting backlighting, this is a video that you are sure to enjoy.