I really love the animals of Africa. I don’t know why, I’ve never been there. My favorite animal is the Elephant. I have painted an Elephant, the second of 2 large (16×20 inches) paintings. The first was a giraffe.

Both of these paintings turned out excellent, especially for my level of experience and the inferior quality of paper I was using at the time. The originals hang in my home today. I have never painted another giraffe. I have painted another elephant, much smaller, that I really liked, but had less detail because it was smaller.

Because of the success of those 2 paintings, I wanted to paint a lion. Lions are a bit different, or maybe it’s my expectation of what they should look like painted. They have a lot more hair than elephants or giraffes do. I have tried on a number of different occasions to paint a lion, but have never liked the end result.

Just before flying out of state recently I started another lion. I got the picture painted up through the first washes of color and then had to leave. When I got home I had lost interest and so set it aside until I was motivated enough to finish it. Recently I did so.

I rarely paint the same subject matter twice unless it’s quite a different setting or reference photo, or it’s a favorite subject. But because this lion was kicking my butt, I have kept at it. One of these days I might be satisfied and finished painting lions, but I don’t really think this is the one. In fact, I didn’t even think it was better than the previous 3.

So, I decided today to look back at my first 3 attempts verses this last one. I am grateful I did. Sometimes I forget where I started and it’s nice to see the difference. While I still work on technique and logging my brush miles, I am grateful that once in a while I get to see progress that I can pin point because the subject matter is so closely related.

There are things I like about each painting, but more I like about this most recent painting than the rest. Technically speaking, this last one is still far superior to the other 3. I don’t know if I’ll paint another any time in the near future, but I am sure it will happen eventually as I learn more and become better. I will never be a perfect artist, but I am grateful to see progress!