When a Surprise Dinosaur Flew Over the Last Cougar of 2018

During the Holidays some of my paintings found new homes. While many of us think of artistic creations as a “biological need for expression”, it is never a bad thing to have others like the works and take them home with them!

So, I needed to paint a new mountain lion (cougar). The winter hides of hare are thicker so it is easier to paint on them, but sometimes the veins are not as apparent depraving my natural canvas from having its own character of colour and texture.

... I started by painting one eye a bit darker than the other as this hide was less elongated in shape and I thought one eye being darker would give more a visual depth to the observer. Well, my highly clever arts critic squirrel did not think that way! So, I went back to a more flat, two-dimensional painting of the cougar’s face by bringing both eyes to the forefront.

While I was making this modification, I saw a Cretaceous era flying monster over its head! These are the character traits I look for in a hide and work around them. This one I had not noticed but luckily I had placed the face appropriately under the Pterosaur.  All I needed to do is add eyes, nostrils and a couple of nasty looking teeth….

So there was my last cougar painting of 2018, with character albeit a rather docile set of eyes.

December 29, 2018

© Vahé A. Kazandjian, 2018