Another painting finished

 On October 23 I published my last post on a lion painting I was working on. Then I waited for the bottom layer of the grass to dry. Then painted more grass. Then waited. Then painted more grass.

 

I finally had the completely dry painting scanned last week.

 

 

 

Waiting for Nightfall

Original oil by Linda Besse

24" X 36" 

 

 The title is part of the story. I envision this lion coming back from eying the wildebeest and zebra below. Looking over his dinner options is a hallmark of a good hunter. 

 

 

 

 

Finished

Cheek to Cheek

Original Oil

22" X 48"

Leopards

After completing a small piece, time to switch it up with a large complicated one.
In Kenya I had the great fortune to witness a pair of mating leopards interacting. He was the amorous one always trying to get her attention.
Rather than use the Venetian Red gesso which has served me well for a couple of years, I thought this painting would benefit from a Yellow Ochre gesso. Below is my beginning.

After drawing my leopards, I used a turpentine wash of raw sienna and burnt sienna to define the spots. Playing upon complementary colors, some of the background will have hints of a blue/purple mixture (ultramarine blue, rose madder, burnt umber, and a smidgen of violet.)

Last minute changes

Beneath the White Mountain

Original Oil

11.5" x 28"

This is one of those paintings I thought was done when an idea burst into my head. I had painted all the trees, the cattle, the Masai, the sky and the clouds. When I stood back, the slight change of colors I had painted in the sky suggested something back there. That is when it hit me. What if I painted Kilimanjaro in the background?  I had been in the vicinity of the mountain when I saw the cattle but I didn't see the mountain until the next day.

Here comes the tricky part. I was happy with what I had already painted. Do I risk painting in the mountain, something which was not part of the plan? Will it make a difference to the painting? The photos I took of the mountain had that faint (and maybe mystical) feel. Could I pull off a subtle mountain for the highest peak on the continent?

I decided to go for it and am glad I did. For me it gives the painting the extra flavor it needed.