I’m currently working on a new small-scale portrait of a mountain lion, done with watercolor paints. I’ve just finished the initial underpainting stage, where I sketch out the basic forms and apply sepia texture and small wash areas to give the painting some basic structure before starting to layer on color.
For this piece, I began with a rough pencil outline of the cougar’s face, focusing on capturing the essence of its features – the shape of its eyes, the angles of its snout, the distinctive cheek ruff. Once I had the basic proportions mapped out, I started laying down the sepia tones. At this stage, I’m not overly worried about perfection, just getting a foundation in place.
The sepia brings out the form of the cat and adds starts developing the feeling of depth to the initial facial contours. As it dries I’ve added slightly warmer fur for a second layer, the variations in the underpainting will show through the layers of color I’ll be adding next. The underpainting provides substance and form that will allow the more vivid paints to filter through.
The initial steps may not look like much yet, but they provide the infrastructure to support the final piece. The sepia underpainting provides a strong foundation. As layers of color are added and focused brushwork applied, the basic sketch will be transformed into a vivid depiction of the wildcat intently focused on something off canvas. Each small step in the artistic process takes the piece closer to the finished vision.