The last LDE hunt report got me all fired up.
Here is a quick little study of one in oil pastel on 14"x18" canvas board.

Nice sketch. Note one of your yellows (chrome) is a little acidic and you would do well to substitute it for something warmer?

Took the liberty of altering the image as an example and hope you do not mind?

Thanks. That is actually closer to what the piece looks like (bad lighting and photo (camera setting) on my part) The colors are not as off/bright in person.

Here is another photo with different lighting:



My oil pastel pallet (adult Crayons? ) choice is limited but I do like how the oil pastels force me to use and experiment with the bolder, more vibrant (yet unatural) colors. I find it teaches me a lot about the effects of light on the subject matter, especially when you are trying to depict a certain hour of the day etc...
I usually end up layering multiple colors to get something close to what I am looking for.

When I use paint I often make the mistake of only using the natural tones and the finished product comes out like a boring, bad photograph!

Thanks for the edit!

I think the original "pops" more. Reminds my of my Sister's earlier works. I personally like its boldness.

Thanks Frostbit.

Here is a leopard in acrylic that I have posted before (back before there was this forum I posted a few things under the trophy room forum)

Leopards do not look like this color wise but I kind of like the way it came out.



I guess I am in my wild color phase at the moment!

I do like the richness of the edit Fairgame posted. Unfortunately it takes more work than a click to change the original

I love the eyes. You nailed the attitude. My Father was a professional Artist using mostly pen & ink and watercolor. He did a few pastels, mostly potraits of family.

My sister graduated from Philadelphia college of art way back and now teaches. She was flamboyant with her colors which drove my Father nuts.

I have the gene but not the patience or the time. Maybe when I'm old and frail.

I just got the Giclee of my Elephant shot from Etosha done on canvas and it is even nicer than I had hoped. I had it done in a Gallery Wrap. The canvas gives it an even greater inpressionistic feel.

You have talent my friend. Keep it up!!

quote:

When I use paint I often make the mistake of only using the natural tones and the finished product comes out like a boring, bad photograph!

That is probably because you were never taught painting. Art is simply a learning process.

The leopard is well painted but there are some classic errors. For starters the composition is all wrong and everything is centered. There is very little variation in your brush strokes which tends to flatten the picture. The Eland is much more lively and there is a direct use of color.

My advice is to forget about detail as such and let us take a Leopard for example. This is off the top of my head but bear with me. Maybe a dark painting whereas the background cannot be distinguished and the Leopard is now and again highlighted by a splash of amber or gold, maybe the only real detail is one glinting eye. The image will depict what Leopard are about - nocturnal - secretive - difficult to see - etc

If you go back to my Lion study and cover the eyes what do you see? Just a mass of brush strokes and impressions of.

quote:

That is probably because you were never taught painting

True.

Flat art is more of an exersize for me than a means to an end (and I am sure that is obvious to trained artists.) Drawing/painting an animal subject is a way for me to focus on anatomy and helps me to learn how certain details look. It forces me to look close and study posture, attitude, movement, shapes, habitat, etc...

This is one reason why I have a really hard time painting anything in a loose or abstract way even though I like the look of that style very much. I have to try and draw the details in order to set them to memory.

All of this compliments good taxidermy work IMO.

If I had the time I really would like to draw/paint more often as I enjoy it very much.

Thanks for the comments.

I look forward to seeing more work on this forum.

Cheers!

Grafton,

I personally like the first one you posted.

The brighter oranges and reds reflect more of the experience I had hunting them. It was 120F each of my hunting days in Central Africa so your brighter colors not only depict the eland but also gives the feel of the heat in the hours and days of tracking those beautiful animals.

Thanks for your comment ide!

I hope to see and experience that part of Africa one day.

Cheers.