Tiger Tiger

It has been a while since my last posting and the big news (for me at least) is my new studio. It has just been completed and means I can now vacate the spare room and my wife can whip out her Farrow & Ball colour chart and re-decorate the mess I have left behind. The studio is a loft conversion above my garage and with four Velux windows in the roof the light is fantastic.

On the painting front I have decided to take a break from my usual subject matter; which is predominately British wildlife and indulge myself with some more exotic wildlife from farther afield. With this in mind I spent a pleasant day at Chester Zoo and captured some good images of big cats. The first painting is a relatively small gouache of a Sumatran Tiger, television never seems able to give the same charge of excitement you get when you are up close and personal with wild creatures, despite innovations like HD etc, TV just cannot convey the presence and sheer charisma of something as magnificent as a Tiger. But even in a zoo where you know you are beyond their reach, there is a thrill of fear as they come close. The unmistakable throaty cough of a big cat touches something primeval in us that our instincts still retain. Hopefully you will think I have captured something of the dismissive arrogance of this male Tiger’s gaze in the painting.

Because I enjoyed painting it so much you can expect to see more from the material I brought back from Chester and I am already planning a visit to Dudley Zoo.