More Lion Progress

There's a lot of work left to do, but I'm a little happier now that the lion has been partially incorporated into his surroundings. Overall, the colour of the lion is still a little cool, but I'm warming things up as I revisit and refine each area.

I'm confident now that the lion itself will be a success, but it's the vegetation around him that's posing the main challenge for me. I've roughly scrubbed in some colour and texture below the lion, but the shrubs and grasses I've begun to add detail to are giving me cause for concern. I realise that with very rare exceptions I have not painted vegetation for many years, and I think the lack of practice shows. Give me rocks and water any time!

I have some spare masonite on hand, and I plan to step back from this painting and put in some practice before I return to it next week.

Cheers
Pete

Lion Progress

My new A3 printer is proving to be a useful tool, but it was apparent as I compared my first day's progress with the image displayed on my laptop screen that in relying solely on the print, I'd rendered parts of this lion in too dark a tone.

I still have the print within reach as I paint, but I've now made room for my laptop on the nearby bench top, the benefit being that I can better judge tonal values as well as zoom in on particular areas I need a closer look at. This setup isn't foolproof of course; I've found in the past that it pays to be mindful of the screen angle when judging colours and tone; they can vary significantly as the screen is tilted. 

To make amends for my initial misjudgement of tonal values, I overpainted the lion's mane in the area of his chest with lighter tones, and adopted a more traditional approach by blocking in the rest of his body to establish something close to the final tonal values and basic colours. Having done so, I turned my attention today to modelling the lion's body, and attempted to replicate the texture of the creature's short fur. This is unknown territory for me, and I'm finding it very challenging!

I'm afraid the fun is over for another week, and it's back to the day job tomorrow.

Cheers

Pete