Cheetah:

Natural History Note:

Cheetahs are the fastest land animal - clocked at speeds for short distances of up to 70 miles an hour. They have permanently extended claws (not retractable as in most cats) that are used like cleats of a football shoe to aid in running, with the long tail used for turning and balancing. Since they don't have sharp claws to pull down prey, they trip them instead.

Cheetahs are critically endangered due to a variety of issues. The main one is habitat
loss and isolation. While cheetahs use to be found throughout the continent, now they
are only found in pockets without corridors to intermingle. What this has caused is
very limited genetic variation which makes the animals much less vigorous and more
susceptible to disease and birth defects. Cheetahs are very non aggressive as well
which makes them and their cubs easy prey for lions and hyenas.

Jan has had the opportunity to observe many cheetahs up close in her travels to Africa, particularly Kenya. One trip a cheetah actually got up on the hood of her vehicle. In this photo Jan is seen observing and photographing the exact cheetah in this painting.

Here is the sketch done to size getting ready to be transferred to the painting surface. To the left are two of the reference photos Jan is using.

The background is mostly done, the cheetah is blocked in with dark brown paint and the drawing has been transferred with the white artist transer paper.

In this photo the cheetah's eyes are done and the hair coat has been "drawn" in with a fine brush and off white paint.

Here a unifying brown wash is being put on the cheetah in preparation for the final finishing coat.

Here is the finished painting - it is 8x10 and is entitled "CHEETAH REST".