The Sheep

     Many people have wondered how the sheep came to inhabit scenes in the design collection.
     Along about 18 years ago I painted a whimsical scene of a rural church. The foreground had a very horizontal layout and needed something to lead the viewer into the scene. Somehow, a few sheep seemed the perfect solution. Not long after that, I was painting another rural church that had a fence in the foreground. It needed a few sheep, too, but I had already painted in the fence. I put in a few sheep but blackened them in to effectively put them in front of the fence. Somehow black sheep and churches seemed good companions.
     Since the first sheep there have been many more, as well as a few horses, pigs, squirrels, swans (see the Swanville set), and even a ferret.
     I also add the curvy pine trees as compositional elements though I do try to use them only when there are already some conifers in the landscape (the exception is in Christmas scenes where I can haul in a Christmas tree anywhere I want).
     The heart balloons are a recent development. They're a nice way to add visual interest and color though I don't expect that you'll see them floating above random houses.