this 18" x 24 " oil painting of a snow leopard wasn't really in my project to do list. my original plan was to make an amur leopard. this means using a lot of yellow, orange and brown colored paints, warm colors in short. this past month (march 2010) was so hot i decided to make a snow leopard instead. at least, i'll be using "cool" colors in my painting. (its a psychological thing)
as usual, i start with the eyes, then the nose and ears while trying to make the fur look a bit scruffy and coarse, outdoor cats can't look too groomed.
i didn't really know how to draw scruffy fur. so the method you see here was done by trial and error. it took me a while to figure out how to do it too.
the fur at the back and sides of the leopard must have a coarse look while the chest and belly parts have a silkier look.
i chose to blur the background because the snow leopard is already very detailed. having a background that has more details would make the painting unbalanced.
with my experience from painting logs on the fox cub canvas, it was easier to paint the chopped of log under the snow leopard's paw. here's the finished painting ^_^v
as usual, i start with the eyes, then the nose and ears while trying to make the fur look a bit scruffy and coarse, outdoor cats can't look too groomed.
i didn't really know how to draw scruffy fur. so the method you see here was done by trial and error. it took me a while to figure out how to do it too.
the fur at the back and sides of the leopard must have a coarse look while the chest and belly parts have a silkier look.
i chose to blur the background because the snow leopard is already very detailed. having a background that has more details would make the painting unbalanced.
with my experience from painting logs on the fox cub canvas, it was easier to paint the chopped of log under the snow leopard's paw. here's the finished painting ^_^v
