LIVING IN HARMONY - Art Competition.

I have been obsessed with leopards since I was a little tuskerman, so I feel especially thrilled and honoured to have won an art competition in South Africa that is being held to raise awareness by the Primate and Predator Project.

The Project is supporting a system whereby Anatolian Shepherd Dogs are being raised and trained to protect local cattle herds from leopard predation - so livestock and predators can live in harmony. My illustration depicts the relationship between them all.

When art can be used as a tool for conservation... that's what it's all about!

Thank you all who voted for the picture!

Read more:

https://primateandpredatorproject.wordpress.com/2016/10/28/and-the-winners-are/

"DAWNWATCHER"

"DAWNWATCHER"
Pastels, Charith Pelpola, 2016

It's been good to get my hands dirty again and going mad with the pastels! I've been doing a lot of b+w pen drawings recently but pastel is where the heart is at!

Leopards are close to my heart and I wanted to convey a sense of mystery and optimism in this picture, as the Dawn-watcher patiently waits in his forest kingdom, waiting for the first light of dawn to herald a new day...

Below are stages in this work, from start to finish:

Please check out my Facebook page for more artwork.

Thanks!

"PURSUIT" - progression

The first painting of 2016 is done and dusted!

"PURSUIT"
Pastels, Charith Pelpola, 2016

After completing "Duel' last month, I've really wanted to continue painting 'action' scenes with a lot of movement and dynamism.

A Cheetah in chase was an obvious choice. This originally started with a bit of an experiment with a new set of watercolour pencils. But as I filled out the face and started to work on the body in motion, I began to overlay the watercolour with pastels - helping to give more texture to the fur.

Here's a quick video showing the stages in the painting's development:

www.facebook.com/theMANonFIRE/

Please visit my FB page to see more works in progress.