Leopard:

Artists can be influenced by a lot of different things. For a wildlife artist obviously experiences in nature are the main influences, but for Jan she also has had a lot of formal art training in college, so sometimes abstract concepts that are imbedded in her psyche from her education will trigger emotional responses to things she sees in nature. Jan really gets excited by "positive" and "negative" spaces. Several recent paintings Jan has done show this influence - one is "CAT'S EYE VIEW" which is a cougar that is featured on "Past Works in Progress" button at the bottom of the page. The other is "Old Saguaro and Gila Woodpecker" which is a painting currently exhibited in Birds In Art - you can see this painting under "People, Places and News".

In this current "What's on the easel now painting, Jan and James saw and photographed a leopard during their latest trip to Kenya. The silhouette of the leopard lying in the tree triggered Jan's love of positive and negative spaces such as seen in Japanese calligraphy (above) and the work of the abstract expressionist artist from the 1950's, Franz Kline on the right. Below is the first blocking in of Jan's painting which will be a leopard lying amongst branches of a tree. Note the obvious similarities to the general idea and themes found in the calligraphy and Kline's painting.

Here is a photo of the drawing done to size with the reference photos on the left. The three larger photos are from this year's trip, and the smaller one was from last year in the same area of Samburu in Kenya.

This is the main photo Jan is working from. James and Jan were in two separate vehicles (because they were leading a group) and while both photographed this same leopard, James had this angle with the leopard lying out on this limb. When Jan saw the photo she loved it and decided this was the one she wanted to paint right now. While she is working fairly closely to the photo, she is will be making some changes in the composition of the branches. She is also moving the leopard closer to the top, leaving more area below and will probably be adding some smaller branches. This photo by James will be featured on the cover of GAME TRAILS magazine, spring issue - James's first magazine cover!!!

Jan has transferred the drawing to the blocked in area using a white artist transfer paper.

Jan has blocked out the area where the leopard will be with artist masking fluid, saran wrap and masking tape.

Here Jan has mostly completed the tree branches and trunk.

The trees are done minus a few touches of warmer light that Jan will add later. The eyes and nose are completed and she has now detailed the hairs of the leopard coat with off white paint. Notice at this point the spots aren't delineated (except a couple that are in some breaks of fur.)

A unifying brown wash is done over the entire leopard.

Jan is now working on completing the leopard. The head is done.

This is the finished painting - "SUN SPOTS" 24 x 18" This painting will premiere at the DSC convention (see schedule for more details).