Lion Painting

I have this canvas that I've prepped a while ago...
I've always wanted to paint a big Lion face, but never got around to it, until now

Acrylic on stretched canvas
(80cmx80cm - 31.5"x31.5")
- gessoed twice (sanded each time)
- I then add another layer of paint (titanium white and black) --> I dunno why, I seriously dunno why I wanted a greyish background
I used pallette knife (or was it a plastic card ?) to smooth the surface, but I didn't get a smooth surface anyways because there'd be uneven lines from the pallette knife... d'oh, but it just adds an un- noticeable texture ;p


I didn't sketch the lion face beforehand and I thought I'd just used diluted paint to draw straight onto the canvas.
See the white heart shaped drawing above the nose.... the first drawing was too small, the second drawing, the nose was to far down, the third drawing was ok.
I then add crazy looking hair, just for fun.
Total time : 2 hours


I started adding in color, struggling with what colors to use, trying this and that, mixing this and that. The lion's looking pretty sad at this stage, and honestly, I was kinda frustrated looking at it, hah :)
Total time : 30 mins


I finally used yellow ochre + cadmium orange and some burnt umber for the darkish brown color.
Just went loosely on the hair using a big fray cheap brush, hey... it works !!! :)
I'm so happy about it, no painting details using small fine brush, just going loosely and fastly.
Total time : 2 hours


Defining the eyes and nose
Total time : 3 hours


Greyish background is painted black
Finishing the hair, using different colors to add depth
I love how the hair sort of flame-y on the bottom of the painting
Total time : 4 hours


Eyes close up

I did this in a total of 11.5 hours on 5 different days, stretched over a time period of 1 month and 6 days.
Why ?
because I'm a lazy bum, that's why ;p
and a lot of staring and whining "oh how do I do this, oh I can't do this, bla bla bla" because I didn't know how to do this and that and I was afraid how it was gonna turn out.
but I think this is the best painting I've done :) and I'm so loving it !!!!
I didn't even know I could do this, but I did anyway and it turned out great :)

I know I said that I'm going to start painting on smaller canvas to explore more techniques, but I think I shouldn't be afraid to do pieces on big canvases, I need to stay confident & just try any techniques I think is possible, no pressure, no burden, just having fun.

and I don't mean to brag, and I know I've still got a loooootttt to learn, but Sometimes I "WOW" myself !! I'm really really proud of this one and I find that a lot of the times we (by we, I mean me) limit ourselves and not dare to try, but I find that if we just push ourselves a little bit more, we might be surprised of the outcome :)
I mean, it's like "I had it in me the whole time and I didn't know it ?"
"Where did the talent come from ?" I just keep getting better even without proper practice/training. I mean.... I'm ashamed to say that I've been lazy and I haven't been using my talents and pushing myself to see how far I can go, I haven't up my skill in painting, I've just been neglecting it, yes because of time limit, but also because I'm lazy and I'm not confident, but it's mostly laziness.
I know it's not just me, there are a lot of talented people out there who don't use their talents well and waste it away, and there are some who are less talented but they keep pursuing their dream and they succeed, they become really really good from a lot of hard work and years of non stop learning.

So.... I think I've got some talents in painting, and even if I'm just totally biased and subjective on this, and If I actually have no talents whatsoever, it doesn't matter, coz I'm gonna start painting more, just paint and get better at it and see where this will take me :)

I think we should all do that,
No whining, No saying "I can't do this",
We need to work hard and keep pushing ourselves and have confidence in what we do.
Just try and see what happens.
You may not always have a "pretty" result, but you'll definitely learn a lot,
and in time, I'm pretty sure that you'll get your "pretty" result, eventually.