untamedartists

For the third work in my Australian wildlife series I've chosen a mob of kangaroos in the bush. I'm working on primed board for this one and really like the way the front roo anchors the image.

Here's the steps so far...







More updates to come!

Hi Leigh, I'm just wondering how you came about this composition because it doesn't conform to all the rules, and yet it works very well.

Glad you like the comp. I had worked on the old rule of thirds and some juxtaposition of my subjects to get this to work. The roo in the background acts as a counterbalance to the main roo and helps create some space in the work. The gentle diagonals in the hill and the shadows were chosen to help keep things flowing and emphasize the light in the scene.
As per usual when I'm putting together a composition from various sources I've got to alter many elements such as shadows and colour casts to get what I'm looking for. It's one advantage of my background as a comic book artist.

The mob is now complete. I spent most of the morning building textures and adjusting tones until I was happy.



Now it's time to decide which animal will be next in the series. I may hold off for a while before I get going again as I'm also working away on a large double portrait commission of koalas in pastel.