First cat

For her, I started with the tail first. Next I mixed the colors for her shadowed fur against him and finished all the shadowed areas before moving to the sunlit parts.

More spots

My darks can dry overnight while my "whites" and lighter colors can take up to a week depending on the ambient humidity. So even though I have all the spots in, most of them will be repainted as I blend them into the surrounding fur.
You might well ask, "Why bother to paint them twice?" Having the spots painted with warm and cool blacks (some more brown) gives me a frame of reference for the sunlit and shadow areas, helps me to see the cats' muscle structure, and gives me an overall feeling for the painting.

Spots

With the leopards' spots now dry after the turpentine wash, I can start on them. My black base is ultramarine blue, cadmium red, and burnt umber. For areas that will be in sunshine, I am giving the spots a warmer tone.

Grasses

My next step would usually start with the leopards' spots. But, my turpentine wash is not dry yet. Rather than have a muddy mixture, I have moved to the foreground grasses.

Grasses are not one of my favorite things to paint but I really enjoyed these, particularly the ones over the bank which created shadows.

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.)

Finished

On the Ice

8.5" X 12.5"

Original Oil

Polar bear details

Here you can see I am starting to add the texture of the polar bear fur. Each stroke is added in the direction of the fur.