Sumatran tiger painting

'That Once Burned So Bright' 
acrylic on canvas 76cm x 61cm

This painting of the highly endangered Sumatran tiger has been a big challenge to paint. I've learnt some valuable lessons about painting 'big' and found that when I thought it was finished in was in fact far from it. Finally I am happy with him, no more tweaking to do. This painting is my entry for the Kenilworth Trophy Art Exhibition later in the year and I'm so glad I started it early otherwise I may not have finished it in time with all the changes I made to it. I thought it was finished but alas it was far from it so I have spent quite a bit of time correcting things I didn’t like and working his ‘presence’ up. You would not believe how many times I thought I’d finished only to see something else that needed adjusting.  I have huge respect for those artists who do the most enormous larger than life size works. There would be many challenges and many pitfalls.