Big cat and little cats

Tiger

©Sharon Whitley

Hellooooo all you bloggers out there, hope you're all having a great day.  Where do the weekends go?  Can't believe it's back to work again tomorrow - it's been a funny old weekend, no walking this weekend except for an unscheduled one on Friday night!  Gary and I went on our 'spinning' Christmas do in Chester - we got the bus and paid for a return fare planning to get the last bus back - but while we were having our meal it was snowing heavily outside - so much so that all the buses stopped running - and most of the taxi drivers went home too!  After about an hour trying to find a taxi we finally managed to flag one down but it couldn't get us all the way home because of the snow and we had to walk the last couple of miles - in pouring rain, cold - now you know I love a good snowy walk but not in my party frock! I was glad to be home I can tell you!  Yesterday we went to Chester Zoo again and met the baby elephant that was born last Monday - oh what a little cutie!  It was great to see the animals in the snow and Gary got some wonderful photos as usual, the highlight of the day was watching a rather brave little robin hopping around one of the tigers trying to pinch a scrap of his lunch!

As well as painting a big cat I've painted a couple of small cats too, in a much looser style

© Sharon Whitley

©Sharon Whitley

Those of you who follow my facebook page may have read that I'm planning on starting a 'monthly art challenge', wherby I post a photo and invite other artists to paint it in whatever medium and style they wish - there are a few interested and I'll be posting the first challenge before the end of the month ready for February - I'll post the photo here on my blog too if any of you out there would like to join in.  It's just a bit of fun, not a competition, just a way of seeing how different artists interpret the same subject and hopefully we can all learn a little bit from each other.  I'll be mainly using Gary's photos, but I won't limit it to wildlife and landscapes and will also use photos from the Paint my Photo site and use suggestions from artists that are joining in the fun - so let me know if you'd like to join in - it doesn't have to be every month just whenever you want depending on whether you have the time and like the subject!  That's it from me for now - have a wonderful week!

Two Lions

I finally got round to doing a painting from the many photos we took at the zoo last week - I chose this one as we spent some time watching these two lions, nuzzling and licking each other - it was lovely to watch although it felt a little like we were imposing on a rather tender moment!!  after not painting for a while this was a bit of a practice piece to get me back into the flow but Gary really likes it and I've had some lovely comments from facebook friends - even Jean Haines which is always a confidence boost !!  Still not convinced myself whether I like the way I've painted it although I like the expressions I've captured -  but then we are our own worst critics aren't we?

Lions
by Sharon Whitley the Rambling Artist

for more big cat paintings follow this link

As always your comments mean a lot to me

Decisions, decisions....

Today I'm still debating what to paint from the selection of photographs we took at the zoo yesterday!!  Maybe one of the big cats?  I went through a short phase of painting big cats last October after I painted the tiger  that I posted yesterday, one of which won 3rd place in a wildlife painting challenge on a site called The Painting Loft. This site offers wonderful and honest feedback and advice for watercolour artists and I would recommend taking a look.  

Lioness (source photo courtesy of Gary Jones Wildlife Photography)
by Sharon Whitley the Rambling Artist

Jaguar
by Sharon Whitley the Rambling Artist

 I am always in awe of big cats, they are such beautiful creatures and you feel you want to stroke and cuddle them but of course you wouldn't!!  One of the best places I have been to see them is South Lakes Animal Park which I absolutely love, and the best zoo I have ever been to.  They have African lions, jaguars and tigers which you can watch being fed.  They place the food at the top of tall poles and then let the cats out so that visitors can watch these magnificent animals in action, it also helps keep them fit and healthy.  Here is a link to Gary's blog where you can see the photos from our trip there in February, and the tigers and lions climbing the poles to reach their food - awesome!!   I'm looking forward to visiting again this summer.  Yesterday we visited the Asiatic lions at Chester and got some superb photographs so I'm tempted to paint another lion .... or a tiger.......or .....or....oh decisions decisions ......... now I'd better stop rambling and start painting!

As always all comments are welcome

Chester Zoo

We had a wonderful day at Chester Zoo today and Gary took some fantastic photographs some of which will soon be uploaded to his blog.  And after a couple of showers in the morning, even the weather behaved itself for a change and it turned out a lovely sunny day!  Maybe our luck is changing weather wise - I daren't hope!!  Got some great shots of the tigers and cubs and of the Asiatic lions who were mostly asleep as usual but managed to capture a few yawns from them!  Didn't see much of the jaguars and cheetahs unfortunately but now that we've got an annual pass we'll be able to pop there any time and not worry about the cost.  Some great shots of meerkats, birds and zebras too and the elephants of course.  So I've got a whole load of new images to inspire me to paint - just need to choose where to start now - decisions decisions!  In the meantime here is a painting I did from Gary's last visit to Chester Zoo, one of the tigers he photographed which he now has hanging on his wall - the painting that is not the tiger!

Tiger tiger Burning Bright (as per my favourite poem!)
from a photo by Gary Jones

As always comments are welcome