Oil painting the mythical big cat

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Initial thoughts

I love big cats. One day I happened to find some snap photos online for some mythical big cat or hybrid lion/tiger. Such as–>

I love the appearance of these hybrid big cat but I can’t find more clear photos in high resolution. I wanted to create one myself and actually painted it. I started with regular ginger color tiger. I put on male lion’s hair and changed stripes to snow leopard’s spots. I saved some spots as solid as cheetah. Also I added the black face line under its eyes just like cheetah. Well I forgot to save some spots to make them as jaguar but maybe I’ll save the idea for next time. It has tiger’s face obviously. Snow leopard’s tail and paws. Since the background is greenish color, I finally decided to make my hybrid big cat albino, white and pale color.

Digital sketch

As always I did an digital concept drawing over a reference photo. I wanted to keep the forest like background with water since it would be interesting to see a “lion-leopard” in woods.

Finished painting

And then I started to paint it on canvas with oil. I like painting its fur. Because it is a mythical big cat so only I know where the spots go. Ha~ 😀

Mythical big cat, Giclée fine art print

I still don’t know how to name it yet. I just call it the ultimate big cat for now. If I come up better idea than that I’ll change it later. I’m also thinking about a black version of the “ultimate big cat”. That would be black panther based and has some jaguar spots. I actually find one photo of this black panther/leopard on Instagram.

Overall, I enjoy painting imaginary creatures and scenes. Hope I could do more this year. 😀

Thank you.

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My paintings are an outlet to express the imagination I have inside my head that I can not put into words. After trying many mediums, I always find myself coming back to paint and brushes. In my current artistic practice, I use oil paint and mainly create portraits of mythical creatures and animals transfixed in the shifting colours of seascapes and landscapes. There is a natural spirit and magic to these creatures and their energy draws me in. Choosing to paint these creatures as real living wildlife rather than abstractions, I use bold and vivid colours to express the imaginary intertwined with reality, finding magic between the seams. Using a saturated colour palette, I create bold and striking imagery, contrasted between foreground and background, subject and landscape, and light and darkness. Weaving their bodies and the surface of the landscape into each other through organic forms and flowing brush strokes, I find beauty, strength and innocence in these creatures that reflect my inner world.

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