“Greater Kudu” (Tragelaphus strepsiceros)Original

Description

I am donating 25% of the proceeds from original and print/NFT sales towards the Maasai Mara Conservancies Association.

The greater kudu is a woodland antelope found throughout eastern and southern Africa. Despite occupying such widespread territory, they are sparsely populated in most areas due to declining habitat, deforestation, and poaching. The greater kudu is one of two species commonly known as kudu, the other being the lesser kudu, T. imberbis.

Both the greater kudu and its close cousin, the lesser kudu, have stripes and spots on the body, and most have a chevron of white hair between the eyes. Males have long, spiral horns. The greater kudu’s horns are spectacular and can grow as long as 1.8 meters (about 6 feet), making 2-1/2 graceful twists.

I started this project on my laptop, by compositing the kudu against a square flat panel of color, with a separated lower strip to represent a horizon line, then sketching in a detailed outline using my pressure sensitive Intuos graphics tablet. Once I had outlines that I liked I printed them out and taped them down to my large format lightbox. I use the lightbox rather than graphite transfer paper or pencil drawings to leave the watercolor paper free of any outlines.

I then taped over a 30” x 22” piece of Arches Rough 100% cotton watercolor paper. I used Van Gogh and Winsor & Newton paints, applying broad background washes first, which I eventually overpainted with acrylics to get a solid flatter and deeper background panel. I then laid in the base body and head textures using a combination of wet on wet, dry brush and wet on dry washes. I used small amounts of sea salt to form the horn texture patterns and deliberate “bloom” backwash effects on the shoulder area. Then I went back with a series of glazes to build up contrast and shadows, finally using a zero size synthetic sable brush to render the details of the horns, hair, eyes and muzzle, leaving the body very loose.

You can see the stage-by-stage progress in my CREATIVE PROCESS section.

For details about the subject, conservation efforts and the painting, check out the work in my “Gallery” section.