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 sometimes take sooooooo long to paint!)
A morning in-the-brush scene, a nighttime setting, head and portrait, a chiaroscuro piece? - all these ideas kept running through my head. I went back to my most successful leopard sighting trip in Kenya for inspiration. As I went through all my reference one encounter kept drawing me - the pair of leopards our guide and the two of us 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 another story to paint with the two of them.
Turpentine wash with yellow ochre to seal my drawing
