Drawitbetter Contest #8 : "Lion"

"Leo, the Majestic"

A gif for the process:

I remembered the first time I saw Kevin Richardson, the Lion Whisperer, around 7 years ago when Youtube was becoming increasingly popular in my country, I was mesmerized. The Lion Whisperer himself, the majestic animal and the bonds between them—I saw something unbreakable, something beautiful, and something profoundly genuine at the moment. And something is altered in the DNA the moment the bonds are established.

Lions has always enchant me with the image of true grandiosity, pride and triumph, always at the top in the hierarchy of its territory. Unlike other felids that are more of solitary hunters, lions hunt in groups when the opportunity allows, and with different methods. This increases the success rate of each hunt, and perhaps one of the reasons why lion could be considered to be the most powerful cat on Earth--- and why lion becomes the symbol of the King. Among a pack of lions there is a hierarchal system where the most powerful lion becomes the leader, and weak lions are casted aside to the sidelines. I am guessing the ‘weak’ or outcast lions are distinguished by their relatively low level of confidence or ‘unfavorable differences’ that make them unfit to blend in and to compete within the system.

Here is the break-down of the process:

If you notice I painted the lion intuitively and organically, which is apparent by my first rough paint of the lion' profile and posture being scrapped and repainted. I went for a more solid and curvy silhouette to highlight the subtle basic shapes in nature that otherwise would not be much appreciated by us in its muted and conventional way. I considered this again on how to frame the subject with the basic blocks of shapes in its surrounding. Also, painting animals is a rare exercise for me therefore I referred many real photos of lions to understand how its anatomy works to depict the lion in that skulking and vigilant stance.

And the final image:

In this challenge I tried to picture a proud lion, the leader of a pack in the midst of hunting its prey. I set the moods to be ‘On Alert Mode’ and whomever the prey of the King might be, they are in great danger.

Thank you for viewing!

• @afique