I must admit I felt a little out of my comfort zone with this one. Although I’ve painted many animals over the years, they’ve always been within a landscape, a small element in a bigger scene, usually cattle, sheep or rabbits etc. I’ve always been of the opinion that from time to time entering in to that zone of discomfort and uncertainty is good for our creativity and artistic development and with this painting there was a certain amount of learning “on the job”. I feel it went well and the more I look at it sitting on my studio bench the happier and more proud I feel. It’s not the easiest of paintings and for that reason I would sit it firmly in the advanced category. That said, I recommend all abilities give it a go, step in to the realms of discomfort, push yourself, it will be worth it!

Happy painting,
Michael

Difficulty: Advanced
Canvas Size: 16 x 16
Brushes used in this lesson: Michael James Smith Professional Brush Set

In August 2019 Michael switched brush manufacturers and as a result the series numbers/names are different in some of the lessons. In order to be able to complete the lessons regardless of which set you’re using we have put together a chart which lists the equivalent brushes from both sets.

Acrylic paints used in this lesson:
Titanium White
Cadmium Orange
Dioxazine Purple
Cerulean Blue
Ivory Black
Winsor lemon
Alizarin Crimson
Cobalt Blue
Burnt Umber

Oil paints used in this lesson:
Titanium White
Cadmium Orange
Dioxazine Purple
Cerulean Blue
Ivory Black
Winsor Lemon
Alizarin Crimson
Cobalt Blue
Burnt Umber

Thinner:
White Spirit