Snowy Night


                                                                  Snowy Night
                                                                   15.5"x12"
                                                                      Pastel
Many thanks to Paul Sherman, at PMP, for such a beautiful reference photo to utilize.  He is an excellent wildlife photographer.   I am pretty fascinated with all the big cats, but the snow leopards are one cat that is so secretive that they aren't usually seen, so much is unknown with this cat.  He has tremendously big feet and such soft looking fur that you would just love to have a quick pet.  We are lucky to have a cat to observe when we go to Washington DC.  They actually have a log that is at the front of the cage, that is warmed in the winters, so the cat sits right up, close and personal.

While I had a super photo for the cat, the background is more elaborate than the original and I am hoping that it reads like a branch with clumps of snow on it in front of the cat.  It kind of gets lost because the cat is so light in color as well.  I always struggle with these cats because I haven't figured out the right color to give the "carmel" look many of these coats have.

This is another foray into the world of pastelmat for me and does take some getting used to.  It does hold many layers, probably more than paper, but not sure I put more layers on than I generally use.  It does give nice detail and I think it will hold onto the pastel better than paper.  Right now this is the hottest paper going for many pastel artists.  I used pan pastels again in the background, and had some issues.  It doesn't smooth around like it does on paper and you tend to get hard edges when you first apply and blenders don't really work well, you can use paper tortillions however.   I think also I was using too small of an applicator and will try a larger one next go round.  The cat itself is primarily pastel pencils with touches from a softer stick to fluff him up.

Many thanks for stopping by and taking a look.


Comments

Mellowood Gallery said…
At first glance I thought something had ripped his ear to shreds and the shreds were floating around his face - definitely confusing. I think the branch needs to be thicker and maybe brown not black although once enlarged the branch is more understandable. Super tongue and eyes!
May 15, 2017 at 12:28 PM
Joan Tavolott said…
Lovely job on leopard! It is hard to identify that the branch has snow on it. Maybe having it be brown like Val suggested would help. I think the only time I've seen a snow leopard was in Vegas of all places.
May 15, 2017 at 5:27 PM
hmuxo said…
This is incredible Nelvia! Beautifully painted...I zoomed on him and his eyes are outstanding...they look like glass !!!!! I bought pastelbord last week and hopefully will be using it for my next painting...and wondering if it's the same as using pastelmat !! Hmmmm....
May 16, 2017 at 6:42 PM
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