In my Ask the Artist series, I will be including questions that I am frequently asked, this is probably one of the top 5 by far.  I am asked by people who live here, as well as people who do not.  Most realize that my original oil paintings are all done by using reference photos of cows and cattle that I have personally taken, thus the question.

Well, even though I usually list my location as San Diego, I'm inland about 18 miles from the actual downtown of San Diego, in the center of historic Downtown El Cajon.  El Cajon originally started out as a place to raise cattle, with the surrounding mountains serving as a barrier to straying cattle, and it was pasture land for many years.

In 1870 gold was discovered in Julian, California, and El Cajon is about halfway between Julian and San Diego, and El Cajon became the ideal stopping place for travelers going from one to the other.  

I imagine many of the ranches I find cows on today branched out as our city became more populated and less rural, and these are the places I find cattle, on the way between here and Julian.  If you take that drive you will see them.  Aside from that there are a few dairies within a half hour drive, so I have easy access to both beef and dairy cattle, though not all breeds.  Some are especially popular and take up most of the real estate.

Occasionally, I take a trip somewhere, and whenever I do you can be sure I'm on the lookout for opportunities to gather reference of my favorite subject, like the reference I used for this piece, which I took on a collector's ranch in the Paso Robles area.

16x20 Original Cow with Calf oil painting

I really loved how this little calf, protected by it's mother, was peeking out from beneath her head.  Although I took this photo back around I'd guess 5 years ago, I have always intended on painting it, and finally had the chance to.  There are many photos in my trove that are also planned paintings.

So there you have it, oh also forgot to mention I believe California is in the top two dairy states, battling back and forth with Wisconsin, feel free to catch me up on that statistic though, as it's been a long time since I checked.  Are you a fan of Dairy or Beef cows, or does it matter as long as they are personable?  Feel free to leave me a comment to let me know!