Painting a supreme sheep champion
Last year's Great Yorkshire Show saw a record number of sheep entries, with additional pens drafted in to accommodate numbers, and Yorkshire artist Janette Hill, who lives near York, was commissioned to paint the Supreme Sheep Champion.
The winning sheep, a Suffolk, owned by Tom Boden, was awarded the overall Supreme Sheep Champion in 2023.
Janette has a long association with the Show, as her parents, Rob and Beryl Andrews, were stewards in the Hives and Honey section for nearly 30 years. Janette takes her inspiration from the the Yorkshire Landscape, painting in oils on canvas.
She said:
" Painting this beautiful golden Suffolk has been a real pleasure, creating the texture of the wool, and the subtlety of colours, which ranged from golden tones of yellow to dark prussian blues. I wanted to capture the sturdiness and strength in its body, and show its presence in its stance, a real champions' pose. "
This painting is proudly on its way to be displayed by the owners in Stockport, before a new Champion Sheep is announced at this years' Great Yorkshire Show.
Janette can be contacted for commissions for animals and landscapes via her website janettehillarty.co.uk