Monday 31 August 2015

New: Fox in Watercolour

"The Colours of a Fox"
New work in progress
To be finished.

When I shared a painting of a fox recently the feedback I received was incredible. I felt touched by the obvious connection with my painting which barely showed the wild creature but the piece was full of emotion.

I have a solo exhibition coming up where wildlife will play a part in my show. In the collection is a fox painting that has already recieved several request son prices and details . The painting touches me in a way I can't describe. As does the new fox painting above. The nose is shiny and catches my eye each time I look at this new painting. The eyes in the painting are eagerly looking at something which has caught the foxs' attention. 

Yesterday afternoon I began this new painting of a fox in watercolour and had to leave the piece in the evening. Its' so hard dragging yourself away from a painting that you are loving working on. Especially as, yet again, my heart is pouring into this painting. 

The inspiration?

We have a fox that visits our garden and it is a comical event when it does. Bailey our Bearded Collie does a "Fred Flintstone" impression each time when the fox appears. He is usually inside and the fox outside. Although his Baileys' legs move at ten to the dozen he doesn't actually seem to be getting anywhere. Other than excited. Just like in the cartoon. After so much barking letting us know he wants to go outside Bailey hurtles into the garden as the bemused fox leaves, possibly thinking our dog is crazy.

I often see the fox in morning light in the field nearby. Sunshine highlights the copper tones in its coat. It strikes amazing poses. My favourite when its head is lowered as it watches eagerly for anything that moves I imagine. Strangely we have ducks in our garden and there are never feathers lying around so I think our fox must feast on the many rabbits surrounding our home.

But back to my painting. What to work on next. I need to complete the second eye. Making it less dramatic than the first. I want the viewers focus to be on the main eye not both.  I must add the ears. Or at least hints of the tips. Looking at my painting on screen I feel the shape of the face would be enhanced if I added detail to define the narrow face shape. I can achieve this by placing a brush mark under the muzzle to separate the face section of my painting from the chest fur appearing underneath.

It was a delight walking into my studio and seeing this on my easel this morning. I cannot wait to finish it!

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Please note: I will continue to share paintings from my upcoming exhibition on my blog later today. The fox painting everyone loves is going to make an appearance in my show too!


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2 comments:

Unknown said...

Simply Stunning

Jean Haines SWA, SFP said...

Thank you so much,I love painting wildlife