Oh Baby, Baby acrylic portrait baby lion

                                                                    Oh Baby, Baby
                                                                         11"x14"
                                                                         Acrylic

Well there was a purpose to this piece besides the fact that I loved the look of this little guy.   He looks to me like he is already practicing stalking and on the hunt.  Of course, he probably really is just curious as they have no fear at that age.

I wanted to see if I could pull some of the energy and looser brushwork that I found in my performers pieces and translate that into use with my animals.   Since I have been on instagram I have seen so  many wonderful and talented folks who do animals really, really well, that it drives me to try to do more than just recreate the perfect look and try to imbibe some life into the piece.  That means that they aren't perfect, static or you see every hair in place.   I worked on this a while ago with a couple of wolf pieces and then somehow got away from it.

This is painted on a piece of really bright yellow mat board because I thought I would be using a lot of water and try mixing together an energetic background.  After picking my colors though I realized I wanted to just have a lot of that mat color shine through and thought it to looked like some African dry baked grassland that he is walking through.  In the actual reference photo he is in snow with trees in the background and you totally see all of his paws.  I used some unart implements to put in the background.    Thankful for the dollar store - there I found flexible spatulas, and one of those things that you can put BBQ sauce on, it has little fingers.

Thanks much for stopping by and taking a look.

Comments

Helen said…
You have been having a grand time with backgrounds lately! I love this one. Maybe I'll be inspired to try one of these backgrounds.
October 14, 2017 at 9:27 AM
Mellowood Gallery said…
super piece Nelvia and the background suits the cub to a tee! Perfect!
October 14, 2017 at 7:32 PM
Sheila said…
WOW, this look even more wonderful on a larger screen. I am amazed at how different things look on IG. I can feel the heat in this scene, hear the crackling of dried twigs as they give under his paws. Amazing details, and energy. And the eyes, you do those so well!
October 14, 2017 at 7:52 PM
Jane said…
I immediately saw the savanna in the background, and I love this sweet looking baby lion, awesome painting !
October 15, 2017 at 10:05 AM
Joan Tavolott said…
That color background works perfectly for this painting. You did a great job on the cub and the texture in this!
October 15, 2017 at 8:52 PM
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