A New Mixed Media Leopard Painting

I just finished this new 24 x 18 mixed-media painting on canvas.

The leopard is obviously the main focus, but there’s a lot happening around him too. The background has layers of teal, blue, green, gold and little touches of warmer color mixed throughout it.

I like the difference between the leopard and the space around him. His face and markings are much more defined, while the background gets looser. Some areas look like leaves and plants, some are mostly texture and color, and other little patterns almost disappear into the painting.

That’s one of the things I enjoy about mixed media. The textures and layers build to create these interesting places for your eyes to explore.

From farther away, you see the leopard first. When you get closer, you start noticing all of the smaller things around him.

There are little patterns, marks and bits of color that can be easy to miss at first. I think that makes this one more interesting to see in person because your eye can keep moving around the painting and finding something different.

I also really like how calm the leopard feels against such a busy background. He isn’t doing anything dramatic. He’s simply there, watching.

I’m happy to have this one finished and finally be able to share the whole piece.