This post shows the progress of my leopard painting from start to finish.
A cropped version of my reference photo. I took several pictures of this leopard in the Menagerie of the Jardin des Plantes in Paris, France. Isn't he gorgeous?
After scrubbing sap green paint onto the canvas with an old brush, I rubbed charcoal on the back of a black-and-white printout of my reference photo and transferred it to the canvas by tracing with a pencil. Then I went over all the lines and spots in black.
I went over the sap green with a wash of phthalo blue and got this amazing emerald/aqua color! I was really tempted to leave everything the way it was and call it a finished painting--I just think the colors are amazing at this point!
The leopard started to "come to life" as I deepened the colors and filled in the shadows of the underpainting.
I started adding touches of burnt sienna to the spots, blue-grey to the eye, and blue to the shadow on the hair of the leopard's neck.
The background was experimental...I really liked the contrast here and, after laboring for so long on the rocks and trees, I can honestly say I wish I'd kept it abstract!
After my decision to go for a more "realistic" background...
The leopard is just about finished, but I'm still working on the rocks, tree and leaves of the background.
Any critiques? Suggestions? Post me a note!
I hope you enjoyed this demonstration!
