sos lynx

oil on 18x24 canvas panel. a campaign support piece i made to promote awareness on the critically endangered lynx and the sos lynx conservation in portugal. the original plan for this painting was to make it on a 22x26 panel but at the last second i changed my mind thinking that a large portrait style of an iberian lynx is too much. at that time i was thinking that large canvases would be much better if it was filled with at least 40% background scenery. this lynx project of mine has approximately 20% of the background showing so a smaller and narrow vertical canvas would be a better choice.

using the same ivory black paint from the "watching you" painting i start by blocking in the dark parts of the lynx. its a little funny when i do this part because with all the pencil details i make. it sometimes gets confusing on where to put in the dark blocks and more that one occasion getting frustrated at myself because i forgot what some of the pencil markings meant. but usually after figuring this part out its so much easier to fill in the rest of the colors.

painting the background first before the subject just to get out of my routine of starting a painting with the eyes. in the background i tried to create the impression of a sunny close up grassland. i didnt put in much detail here to balance the painting out because the lynx was already heavily detailed.

doing the color test starting with the mommy lynx's ear then going down and across the head. i used lots of mixes between lemon yellow, naples yellow hue, raw sienna, raw umber, payne's gray and titanium white. there are also some blue hued glazing in some parts.

painting the lynx cub's tongue and eyes last. this painting took thrice the time for me to finish. this probably is the longest time it took me to make a painting. there were lots of distractions and other prior commitments hopefully the next one will be a smooth sailing one.

adapting

oil on 18" x 24" canvas panel. i find it interesting that i feel as if i've finished this painting in a remarkably short time. as i check my working time table records it seems that in the time i spent painting there was nothing out of the ordinary in the way i've paced myself compared to my other paintings. i guess this time i had a higher concentration level and i think i over estimated the time needed to overcome the possible painting obstacles i've forseen. 

in my haste to start the painting i've forgotten to take a pcture when it was still in pencil so here is the next best thing... in burnt umber blockings.

 

i did my color test on the face first then on to the rest of the body. the palette colors i used are similar to the bunnies on my bunny burrow painting. i was aiming for a reddish brown fur instead of the usual ocher-tan.

next i worked on the grass starting from the upper right first going left. i've mixed some yellows and blues into the grass pigment for variety.

here the grass is almost done. only a twig and bits of earth to paint on the lower left part.

finished ^_^ i haven't used any black for this painting i'm still thinking on how dark i want my darkest hue on the painting to be. since i've only finished this painting a while ago i'll be thinking this over in  a day or two. i'll be updating is entry with a picture if i do.

mama mallard

From one subject to two subject rabbits then ten cute ducks!

My process in painting is the same as before, starting with penciling in all the guidelines. this way would make me think and worry less about the placement of the subjects when i'm applying paint. i prefer to concentrate on what color to mix for my subject. and as always i begin with painting the main subject, mother duck. i wanted her feathers to look slightly coarse so i struggled a little while painting her feathers.

the duckling on the right was my test subject on which colors i would be using. after a series of trial and errors i found what colors best suit in the painting. after this the rest of the ducklings was easy to paint.

after the ducklings, i immediately started painting the reflection so that the leftover paint from the ducks can still be used before they dry up on my glass palette.

i painted on a yellow green wash all over the background to unify the colors.

painting the water ripples starting from the upper right to left was harder than i thought. i was going fo a slightly blurred background then a much sharper foreground and was having a hard time translating this idea into the canvas.

the next step was to define the details and adjust the color values.

end result. yay!