Monday 4 January 2010

Eyes of the Wolf



'Eyes of the Wolf' was done some years ago but continues to get attention from my visitors so I thought it was worth another showing. This pastel was worked on suedeboard, which gives 'fur' a lovely texture. Pastel colours used were Vandyke Brown 8, Burnt Sienna 4, Yellow Ochre, some Black and touches of Cerulean Blue. Finishing pastel pencils were pale blue and the extremely useful Faber Castell 270. This is a light grey but picks up the colours you use it over and makes blending fur easier.

This study was done after visiting some European wolves near Bedford in the UK. One of the male wolves reared up and looked into my eyes - a most unexpected happening! He had his paws on my shoulders and this made me realize just how huge wolves are and what a lovely subject his eyes would be in a pastel. (The original of this study is now with collectors in New Mexico.)

There are many photos from the wolf encounter and I hope to do more studies in the future. They certainly are beautiful animals so it is understandable that they have inspired artists for so many years.

5 comments:

Tracy Hall said...

This is one of my favourites too Lesley (and I can highly recommend the print!). It must have been an incredible moment and what you can do with pastel continues to amaze me :)

Anonymous said...

I agree with Tracy, it is one of my favorites too. My interaction with my first wolf was with a pup, and that was quite memorable too.

Lesley Ann Hartman said...

Thanks for the nice comments both of you. I bet the wolf pup was an interesting animal to meet up close Judy.

Gary Keimig said...

Great piece Leslie. Love the presentation and the life that comes through in the eyes.

Lesley Ann Hartman said...

Hi Gary,
Many thanks for your positive comments. Do you have Wolves roaming wild in Montana? If so I bet that is not easy especially if you have livestock. Maybe they are better to paint than to live with :) Lesley