One Thousand!!!

 When this painting is finished it will be my 1000th painting.

For the past year I could see this number coming. After #999 was finished I had two out of town shows and a lot of time to think about what I would paint next. My obvious choice was a leopard piece, as this species has been my favorite for as long as I can remember (though all those spots can take sooooooo long to paint!)

 

A morning in-the-African-bush scene, a nighttime setting, head and chest portrait, a chiaroscuro piece? - all these ideas kept running through my head. I went back to my most successful leopard sighting trip (saw nine different cats in Kenya) for inspiration. As I went through all my reference one encounter kept drawing me - the pair of leopards the two of us and our guide saw.

 

At first we only saw a female leopard coming through the grass. Then she called out and a large male appeared. He spent the next hour wooing her with head baths, "hugs", rubbing up against her, rolling on the ground in front of her, and then they settled down in the shade together. I've painted various aspects of them together but I found new part of the story to paint with the two of them.

 

Turpentine wash with yellow ochre to seal my drawing

 

 

 

 

 

People's Choice Award

    At the NatureWorks Art Show And Sale in Tulsa, OK, March 6-8 I won the People's Choice Award. It was a wonderful surprise.

 

   My drive to my two latest shows (Safari Club International Convention in Nashville and then NatureWorks in Tulsa) took me through 13 states not counting my own. Between packing, setting up, show time, taking down and traveling, it was quite the winter trip.

 

    Of course I am always on the lookout for wildlife and our trip did not disappoint.  Sandhill cranes were migrating through the Platte River system in Nebraska and while we were there the count by the Crane Trust was up to 405,000. Our other notable creatures included a flock of thousands of snow geese, a very large coyote hunting alongside the road, a golden eagle on a carcass, bald eagles, and pronghorn antelope. Certainly plenty of inspiration for future paintings.

Snow geese

 

   Up next is an extra exciting painting because when it is finished it will be a landmark in the number of paintings I have finished. I'm working on its drawing now and in about a week I'll start posting the painting in progress.

 

Thanks for staying tuned.

 

 

Finished

 

Three Gemsbok

Original oil by Linda Besse

7.5" X 16" 

 

 

Gemsbok are my favorite African antelope. Not only do they sport swords of distinction, but their elegant coloring and their fortitude in desert lands which few animals inhabit make them for me an amazing species.

And, maybe being captain of the fencing team in college colors my opinion. 

 

 

 

Grasses

 

At this scale I see no point in painting all the individual blades of grass, and they are not the focus of the piece. I look at it as painting the essence of grass. At the end I'll throw in some blades for texture.

 

 

 

 

Going Small

 After working on a major piece, I often paint a series of smaller ones. This time it happens to coincide with upcoming shows where I like to have a variety of painting sizes for my booths.

 

One would think that after painting all the tiny beads in Bearing Good Fruit (see most recent posts), I would try and design pieces where I didn't have to use the small brushes.

 

Nope. Just about all of the paintings employ tiny strokes of paint. 

 

 One of my favorite things to do is create an expansive scene in a small format.

This piece is 7.5" x 16" 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finished

 

 

Bearing Good Fruit

Original Oil painting by Linda Besse 

32" X 21"

 

 

This piece has certainly been one to "stretch my brushes." There were so many elements which were challenging because they were new to me and the whole concept of having a sepia background was a departure from what one might "usually" choose.

 

One of the joys of painting is learning new things, even after more than two decades of professionally painting. It can also be frustrating. Fortunately, after years of trying new things I've learned to embrace the challenges. Of course that doesn't mean I don't toss and turn in bed trying to figure out tomorrow's next painting step.

 

Thank you all for following my blog and the in-progress steps to finish this painting. The posts for this piece began on January 1, 2026 and I have had more views on this painting than any other I have posted.

 

May we all embrace the "new" in this New Year, expand our horizons, and bear good fruit to the world.

 

 

Almost done

 

The beading is basically finished at this point. My bead colors below the basket are darker and more muted than above.

Her earrings are painted.

My model now has fingernails and I have added some pinks and greens to to the mangoes and gave them more depth within the basket.

 

At this stage there were two important areas to finish. 

The first is her face. It read a bit plastic or frozen. While the "smile" was in her eyes, it didn't quite extend to her mouth. Some shading around her eyes and cheeks was needed and some adjustment to her lips.

 

The second area to be adjusted was the background. My original concept was to treat the background as a sepia-toned backdrop for her. I still liked that idea. Since painting her took so long (you are reading a shortened version in my blog) the background was fully dry and ready to accept a yellow ochre and raw sienna glaze with a medium.

 

Stay posted for the reveal of the completed painting.