This is my first attempt at painting Lion’s fur and an Eye, as usual I took some snaps as I went to help explain the approach and evolution of the painting.

First I went with base layers as usual – just trying to get the basic colours and shapes down to a point I felt I have a good foundation to build on.

You can see the layers and some texture here – but I genuinely just wanted to bash paint on the canvas and feel my way through it all – no plan as such other than a photo of a lions eye as my subject ;).

Another thing to note is I started with deep / darker colours at the base so as I build I can choose to leave these coming through if needed or lighten / adjust as needed.

Big tip! Between layers I like to give them 12 hours (overnight) to dry if you have the time to make sure you don’t end up blending colours later and getting that “muddy” colour as you try to navigate out of it and end up having to start over with base layers.

Next I wanted to work on medium contrast layers and building on the basic shapes I had, I was a bit impatient here and went straight to the base layers for the eye – which I felt to get the glow and orange glaze I should go light to dark on the eye itself, so the base glows through.

I probably put too much effort here on texture and form – since it was getting quite a lot more attention in the next layer.

Another good tip is to use high pigment paints and brushes appropriate for the size of your canvas – some of the brushes I had were just too big so, as ever, I had to go on a shopping trip to treat myself – gee what a shame :P.

Finally, and equipped with my finer / appropriate sized brushes, I focussed on the final glazing and high-pigment details, making some corrections and reshaping as ever.

Voila this is the final product – enjoy!