Black Leopard 17.5" x 16" oil on board

My Black leopard painting is now completed and this is the best photo ive managed to take of the painting in the studio.I 'oiled out' the painting once it had dried to even out the overall shine on the piece as several of the darker areas had dried a little dull as is often the way with oils.It's now drying in a corner of the studio before going off for scanning.This piece has been quite a challenge for me and is my largest oil painting to date although i'm aware that in oil painting terms it's still a small piece.

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Black Leopard portrait

here is where i am with my black leopard oil painting.the photo is awful but i cant seem to rid myself of the glare from wet paint and shiny bits.the nose really doesnt stand out as much as would appear from the photo and the cat itself is actually a good deal darker too.however you can see that i dealt with the issues with the bottom right hand corner and am happy with the overall result.the painting is as near to finished as a painting could be all bar a few bits here and there.i am longing to 'oil out' the painting and get a uniformly glossy appearance once its dried.Once the painting has been scanned i'll post a decent image.hope you all like it.

Black Leopard oil painting nearly there

Apologies for the picture quality as its proving difficult to photograph this painting whilst semi-wet.The picture itself is coming along nicely and is now almost complete bar some detailing to be added and a few refinements here and there.I'm thinking of removing the small section of the cats back catching the light in the bottom right hand corner as its a little distracting i think and i think the image will be fine without it,stay tuned to see what i decide.Ive enjoyed playing with colour and colour mixing on this piece,its amazing how many colours you can find in a black cats coat under differing lighting conditions.i have to thank my own domestic black cat 'cobweb' for his modelling skills in helping me understand the colours that crop up in the cats coat.Cobweb is banned from the studio as he's very nosey and can't resist getting into everything but he's never very far away as he's getting on a bit and spends much of his time fast asleep in a quiet corner and so he's been readily accessible for reference this past few weeks.

Black Leopard update

Struggling to get a decent photo because of all the glare from wet paint but this is where i am at present with this painting.trying to get used to being a bit bolder with the larger brushes.

Black Leopard painting progression

The painting is coming along nicely so far,although as its the largest oil ive attempted so far it's taking me a while to get used to the larger brushes i'm using for this one.I'm still experimenting a little with the colours and trying to pick up on the subtle red/browns that show up in the fur where light passes through.i particularly enjoyed painting the eyes in one session,i think i'm happy with them as is and cant see a need for further work as yet but the nose is a different story,this will definitely need a deal of refinement.looking forward to moving onto the cats face and introducing a little more fur detail.

New painting underway

Black Leopard portrait

My new year has had a bit of a late start artistically as ive been struggling to rid myself of an annoying head cold since christmas which has badly affected my concentration and thus stalled paintings that ive been preparing.I have started several new oil projects,however the only one that has progressed enough to be worth showing is this portrait of a Black Leopard.Those regular followers of my blog will no doubt have spotted already that this is a coloured version of my very successful graphite drawing of a black leopard featured on here some time ago.This is the almost complete under-painting and as you can see ive been busy experimenting with a few colours here and there whilst the painting is in its very early stages.Ive deliberately avoided using black and instead mixed my own 'black' using burnt sienna and ultamarine to give a less harsh finish and although its only applied quite sparingly here i'm happy that it will work nicely.i particularly enjoyed using Alizarin crimson for the first time as ive had it in my repertoire of paints since the beginning of my oil adventure on recommendation from fellow artists and have been wondering when i would get to put it to use.The painting has now been put aside to dry for a while and i may leave it as such until the end of the month as i have an oil painting for beginners day course to run and this would be a good example piece to show my students of the progression of an oil painting.In the meantime i have several other pieces at very early stages that i can work on and will post soon if they progress successfully.Last but not least a belated Happy New Year to you all.