Last month, I asked my loyal followers to vote for my next super-realistic wildlife painting, choosing between three beautiful images that I captured in the Kruger National Park.
I’m extremely excited (and terrified!) to be painting this African Wildcat next! The vote was pretty close, with the wildcat and tree squirrel were really neck and neck until just before I closed the vote! Thank you so much for everyone that voted - I was really having a tough time deciding, and now it feels like I have a whole group of cheerleaders that are behind this next project, motivating me to just GO FOR IT! Thank you thank you thank you!
The lucky random winner was Deborah - she won three of my gorgeous Downloadable Wall Art illustrations. Yay!
Don't feel disheartened if your favourite didn't win -- I'm pretty sure I'll eveeeeentuallyyyyy get to all three!
So here’s what I love about this photo:
Being such a rare and elusive feline, the appeal here is obvious... I was lucky enough to capture a whole series of this particular cat, who was obviously quite at home in the Skukuza campsite. In one of the shots, it is looking right at the camera, but I preferred the one where the cat is looking back over its shoulder. It just brings across a better sense of anticipation - the feeling that the cat is about to move!
I plan to leave most of the background white (as is commonplace with my wildlife portraits), with the grasses on the right portrayed lightly and fluidly to balance out the form of the cat, and some earth beneath its feet to ground it.
So -- watch this space to see the work in progress. coming soon!!! In the meantime, enjoy some more pics of this amazing cat: