Space Lion

For this project we had to create an animal based on a figure. The point was to use unusual colors in order to make a non-traditional animal, while still capturing some of the realism found in the figures. I chose to do a lion because I thought it would have intriguing textures.

I started by sketching out the lion, and then started painting the face. I decided to go with purple because it is the contrasting color to yellow, a more traditional lion color. I kept it very gestural as I moved to the mane. I started doing this in yellows and oranges. This was when I realized I should have made a background first. I used paper and tape to cover what I had done so far and painted the background black with red and blue tones, and added stars to make it look like space. I then thought the mane looked like the sun so I kept with this themed palette by making the next layer of the mane greens and blues like the Earth.

I decided to paint the body a flat orange, but I did not like the way that looked with everything else. There was really no depth to my piece and I was just unhappy with how everything had come out. I used paint pens to pull out highlights in the facial hair, around the eyes, and in the mouth. I didn't like how my colors did not blend together and felt very separated. I made more purple paint and added texture the body and pull the colors from the face into the body. Overall, I am happier with this than I was before, but it is still not exactly where I want it to be.