Charla's Black Panther

My friend Charla took a great picture of a black panther while she was on vacation and gave me permission to use it for painting. I thought you might enjoy the step by step process of how I develop something like this so here are the first 3 steps; keep checking back to watch it unfold! This is acrylic on linen, 16x20 inches.

Charla's Panther, step one

I had a couple of false starts with my drawing, had to revise and rework it a bit. In step one I've used regular acrylics for the drawing and shadows and to block in the background.

Charla's Panther, step two

In step two I've switched to Chroma's Atelier Interactive acrylics and have begun blocking in the darkest shadows and the lightest highlights. The Interactives are a new type of acrylic paint that even when touch dry can be re-hydrated and reworked, unlike regular acrylics that become basically waterproof once dry. I like how each layer of the Interactives sort of melts into the previous layer, adding depth to the painting.

Charla's Panther, step 3

In step three I continue to block in lights and darks and evaluate and compare to the photo. He's in a bit of an awkward looking position and there are plants and grass in front of his legs, making it hard to see exactly what's going on in some areas. Don't worry, he won't look like an amputee when I'm done!

And now I'll go sign in for Paint Party Friday! Just click on the button on the right to go to their page and the list of participating artists. Have fun browsing and seeing all the beautiful Art out there in the world!