SotB:The Red Bull

Part one of a series I plan on doing entitled "Soul of the Beast"

I definitely picked a poor combination of ground and medium for this.
Canvas board with watercolour, gouache, and pen and ink? NONE of these are easy to put on a ridged, non-absorbent surface!
However, I definitely like the overall effect it had, and the sturdy support of the canvas board, so I'll probably stick with it for the next piece in the series. =\

My inspiration for the first, The Red Bull, developed as I put the idea to paper, and even as I was working on it.

First, I'm studying mythology right now and in class we talked about the story of when Zeus turns into a bull to basically kidnap a girl he was in love with. I started a swirly bull in class and thought it'd be cool if I ended up painting it with a red background since, as is commonly known, red makes bulls crazy (Hence Red Bull, the terrible tasting beverage)... even though my version of a bull looks awfully happy about my chosen colour.

Then I remembered that on the Care2 website, I discovered a petition to stop the "Tordesilla" festival, where men on horseback basically chase down a bull and lance it to death.

Unfortunately, this cruel sport is going to take place for another year. And what the heck is the point of it all?

Hooray, this ended up being a painting about animal rights awareness.