The Drake passage

For anyone who has crossed the Drake Passage you know it can be an adventure. 

While our northern return crossing yielded some big rollers, it was nothing like our southern crossing from Ushuaia, Argentina to the Antarctic continent. Wind gusts up to 120 mph created mountains of water up to 48 feet high. In a small 100 passenger ship we really felt the power of the ocean.

To capture the feeling of isolation the early sailors must have felt I am adding a lone albatross to the painting. The sky is a sickly storm yellow. 

 I've roughed in the water and will be using my blending brush to soften the look. The far background water is a mixture of the sky and the green water.

 

 

The water sections which have been painted are blended. White (titanium white and cadmium yellow deep) will be added later.
 

The Finished Painting

 

Tracking   by Linda Besse    Original Oil   42" X 30"  

 

 

The above is the scanned image of the painting.  

 

 

 

 

Footprints

 As I mentioned in the first post on this painting, there is a twist. A secondary element which is designed to be seen after you see the leopard.

I wasn't quite sure how I was going to do this but fortunately the night before I wanted to paint that part we had a light snow. Perfect! I took out my boots and stomped around in my driveway, cellphone in hand.

This is the main reference I used.

More finished

 The cat is nearing completion. I'll go back through and throw in some defining hairs.

More Leopard

 

Overall the leopard was looking too light so I spent some time putting richer color in to his fur.

 

 

The kitty-cat

 

The first place I start on any animal is the eyes. The fun thing about these eyes looking directly out of the painting is that they will follow you no matter what angle you are to the piece.

 

Next up I work my way to the nose and mouth and then continue with some spot sections.

 

 I've filled in some lighter fur sections on the head and played around with the tail.

 

 

The Background

 With all the action in the foreground, my background is designed to direct your attention to the foreground. Nothing too busy or distracting in the background.

 

The trick is getting the right balance - not drawing your focus but also not an amorphous mess.