Focus. Jaguar. 20″ x 16″. Acrylic on Canvas. 2017.

During a trip to the Toronto Zoo with the UOG Wildlife Club I was incredibly lucky to photograph the two Jaguars, Zambucca and Luca, while they were active. Luca, the male with normal coat colour, stood up on their platform and looked straight at us. These photographs were the basis for this painting. The goal was to challenge myself a little bit technically with this painting by not using any black paint at all, not even in the mixing of other dark colours. The colour I relied on the most was Payne’s Grey which allowed me to get the great blue grey of the face indicating the Jaguar is in shadow. The cat is focused on something behind the viewer, and is situated in a natural setting with native plants. My goal is to one day be able to photograph their wild counterparts.