The High Life

A leopard reclines on a large branch

This image of a leopard reclined on a large branch with Mt Kilimanjaro in the background has been sketched in the medium of Pastels on a PastelMat paper whilst using a beautiful photograph courtesy of Tina Marie

Below are a squence of images showing how I sketched the above leopard

 I began by lightly sketched in an outline of the leopard reclined on the large branch

 I then filled in some background blue with a green base colours

I then added a suggestion of tree tops below, before moving onto the leopard's face

Here I'm continuing to work on the leopard's facial features

I added in its eyes, nose, mouth and chin

Being right handed, I"m working from left to right starting with it's long tail

I'm using a pointed rubber (eraser) to draw out the hair from the spots

Here I've been working down its thigh then moving onto its flank and then its paw.

Now I've worked in the white of the underbelly before moving onto and up its foreleg

Here I'm working laboriously on the bark of the stump on the tree branch

I'm still working on the bark and stump of the broken branch before moving onto its back

I've added the remaining spots and fur to its back then continued on the bark along the branch

Here I'm continuing to add a red hue to the bark colour

I've gradually worked my way along the branch to the left of the image

I've now added Mt Kilimanjaro to the background to give the image more depth

Beautifully scanned by Framers Gallery