When I saw this extraordinary image, expertly captured by Marietjie Froneman, it was love at first sight! I was compelled to paint it!
After six gruelling weeks, I can say with complete honesty that “Frolic” has been my most challenging and time-intensive piece to date........ but, my love affair with this dynamic feline duo continues — I adore how this watercolour painting turned out!
I worked on the baby stages of this painting in my home town of Kimberley, while visiting my mom. It was challenging to work in a different spot to my usual "studio"... Even though the sunlight hitting the artwork looks really romantic, it was actually very difficult to work like this. I had to pin a sheet of paper to the window blinds to block out the worst of it!
As usual, I focussed on the eye first. The window to the soul, I really feel like it sets the tone for the entire piece. It's something to hold onto, even when other bits of the artwork look a bit dodgy...!
At first, I planned to complete this entire leopard's under coat first and then add all the spots. But then, I decided to protect my sanity (or what's left of it!) and kind of complete tiny sections at a time - from base coat all the way to the final flourish of spots. Almost immediately, I saw that it was the right choice - the spots were intense!!!
Before and after: I can't tell you how much hell this leg gave me... It looked SO BAD for SOOO LONG, that I really thought I'd never get past it! It's what artists aptly call "The Ugly Phase", and it can be really off-putting. I just kept adding detail to the rest of the leopard's face and neck, hoping that one day I would come to sit in front of my easel, and discover that a fairy magically finished the stupid leg while I slept...
Leopard #1 is done!!!
All those spots were driving me a little loopy at this stage. Not that I've ever been very good at taking selfies, mind you! Silly faces aside, this is really the first time that you might be able to appreciate how cool this piece could be -- imagine a second leopard where my hand is!
Beauty and the Beast... It’s a bit jarring to see the completed first leopard paired with the still-very-much-in-the-ugly-phase-floating-head of the second leopard…!
Every time I added a bit of a base wash to a new section, I really felt like I was making progress! It's pretty misleading, though, since the many, many, many-many, many, maaany layers of shadows and details that are added on top of that, are the most time-sensitive and in turn push the piece closer to completion. The pic below shows a lot of this detail added to the section that is only a base coat above. It is hours upon hours of work...
So close now!! Only the ground beneath the duo's feet to go... This will be much looser and fluid - quite literally! Up until now, I've painted upright at an easel. For the ground, I'll move to our humble kitchen table to paint flat so that the paint doesn't run down the page (gravity, and all that!).
And finally -- TA-DA!!!
That eye - the first touch - saw me through (no pun intended!) from start to finish.
I created the subtle dust clouds around the feet by painting a solid base coat, allowing it to dry, and then lifting out some colour.
Can always count on some selfie fails... Especially when hubby, Alex, decides on a photo bomb!
"Frolic" will soon be available in my online shop as the bespoke original and only 20 limited edition, fine art prints.
You can see more of my photo-realistic wildlife in watercolour in my online shop!
