The Vanquished

I have sketched this scene of a lioness taking a breather at a zebra kill using PASTELS on PASTEL MATT paper whilst using a beautiful reference photograph courtesy of Tim Nicklin

The following sequence of images show how I sketched it

I've sketched in the outline of the lioness along with the prone zebra

I've added a shimmering background of bush and trees and now I'm working on the lioness's body

Gradually working around the neck, ear and throat before moving along her jowls

Here I am working at my Easel as I add the the black stripes of the fallen zebra

I finished the lioness's open mouth and chin before starting to fill in the stripes of the prone zebra.

I slowly work on the dazzle of stripes along the body of the zebra

Here I can be seen softening the background using a paper blending stump

I've spent hours trying to get the lion's snout anatomically correct, before adding grass to the image.

I'm now adding in the surrounding grassland and a blurred middle background

That's it, ready to sign and drop it off at the framers

The image scanned