Painting zebras in acrylic. Step by step.

Here is one of my latest paintings.  I chose the theme of zebras, as I love the patterns!

The finished painting is..... 

This is the story of the painting..........step by step!

A few years ago I went to Southern Africa. My youngest daughter Suzy had just completed a voluntary job in Swaziland. So I flew to Johannesburg to meet her. We then visited Botswana, Zambia and Mozambique. Three of the most amazing places I have ever been to. In Botswana we spent most of our time in the Chobe delta. Here the amount of wildlife you can see from land and river is incredible.  I took hundreds of photos. I have decided to do a series of wildlife paintings based on the trip.  I don't think I will do any paintings of her bungee jumping off the Victoria Falls though  ( but that is another story!! ).

So back to the painting. Firstly I sketched out the outlines.  This doesn't show too clearly, but you get the general idea,

 Next I put some colours behind the sketch to isolate the zebras. I thought a continuation of the striped theme would work at this stage. Although later I changed my mind.

Here you can see that I have started to paint in the zebras. I have decided to give them subtle pastel colours to make them more interesting....and I never had planned to do a totally realistic painting! 

Now I have completely changed the background. I decided the soft pastel colours did not work, I have added stronger shades blending blue through green to yellow.  I have worked quite a bit in to the actual zebras, doing facial details and shading the bodies.

  At this stage I changed the background again. The colours had become confusing. So I changed it to a selection of different blues.  If you look carefully you will see I also changed the right hand zebra from blue to yellow so as to contrast more with the background. The middle zebra is now more lilac than pink too.

The painting is nearing completion. I have decided to add a bit of texture to the background with dots. I have used shades of lilac and blue. I have also worked some additional colours in to the zebras bodies. I have added green to the yellow ones and blue to the lilac one. I have used a small brush to build up layers of thin lines to represent the zebras manes.This has to be done slowly so each layer has time to dry before the next one goes on, You want them to be distinct from each other and not blur.

The final painting. I have worked further in to the background to give a sense of contrast. I have tidied up small details around the faces.

Finally the work has been framed. I chose a black frame as it works well with the black stripes on the zebras.  

This painting will go on sale next month. I shall add the details on here when the venue is confirmed.  I shall also make it available as prints.

I am also working on another zebra painting. I have completed an elephant painting too. 
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