Supplies Needed for a Great Art Experience:

Start with a smile and an idea of something you want to create!

• Photograph you have taken of a wild animal, large enough to see details

• Soft pastels of varying colors and degree of softness, including pastel pencils

• Soft paintbrushes (preferably 1/4" and 1" brushes)

• Pastel paper/mat board/suede board (various colors, preferably 16"x20"), sketch pad (9"x12")

• Wear old clothes

• Rags/paper towels/moist wipes (work great)

• Kneaded eraser

• Unscented hair spray or fixative

• Mask to cover mouth and nose (dust from pastels)

• Non-latex type gloves

• Aluminum foil

PASTELS: One set of soft pastels includes pastel pencils, medium soft pastel sticks and soft pastel sticks. There are many brands of chalk pastels in varying degrees of softness. A set of 24 to 48 pastels would offer a good assortment. If you're just getting started, buy a set of half-sticks or split a set with another artist. This is a frugal way to get more colors at a more reasonable price. Start with a wide range of degrees of soft pastels, with pencils being the hardest to very soft pastels. Pastel pencils are helpful for sketching in the beginning of the piece and for final details. Prismacolor NuPastel pastels are a middle range of softness and one of my favorites. Softer pastels are better for laying on top for final applications.

PAPER/MAT BOARD/SUEDE BOARD/SKETCH PAD: You need a paper designed to hold the pastel. Buy a sketch tablet and pastel paper/board in the size you are comfortable working on. My personal preference is 16"x20" or larger and I keep a variety of paper/mat colors on hand. It is up to you what your comfort level is with size and colors you may use. I prefer using acid free suede board or Strathmore ® products. Start journaling in a small sketchpad and keep it with you. Then you would be able to sketch it when an idea pops into your brain or you see something you wish you could paint. It is good practice, too.

PAINT BRUSHES: Paintbrushes are for smoothing and blending the pastels. Sometimes if the applied chalk is too harsh or rigid, you can use a dry paintbrush to soften edges. It also can be used lift some unwanted loose chalk from your painting.

OLD CLOTHES AND BABY WIPES: These are to protect your clothing. Pastels are an almost pure form of color pigment and can be hard to remove from clothing. Be sure to wear old clothing or an apron of some sort. Baby wipes or some type of moist cloths are great for cleaning the chalk off of your hands.

KNEADED ERASER: A kneaded eraser is helpful in lifting up some of the chalk, especially in the beginning.

UNSCENTED HAIR SPRAY OR FIXATIVE: The sprays are for holding the pastel on the surface as the chalk can loosen over time. Flakes of the pastels can fall off the painting if moved around a lot. The spray can also offer a very think layer of textured surface for adding more pastel strokes. However, there are pros and cons for either the unscented hair spray or the fixative. The fixative holds real well, but causes the paper/matt to absorb the pastel more and fades the highlights. Thus, you may have to do it two or three times, i.e.–Highlight.–Spray.– Highlight.–Spray, etc. This can be frustrating, as you have to reapply the pastels over and over, and can lose the spontaneous application or freshness of the first strokes. The unscented hair spray tends to work just as well and does not fade the highlights as much as the fixative. In my 20 years of using pastels, I have not noticed yellowing from the fixative or hair spray.

FACE MASK AND NON-LATEX GLOVES: If you are allergic to air irritants or dust, you may want to get a small face mask. It is always good to use them for your protection.

ALUMINUM FOIL: This is used to create a catchall for the pastel dust that falls from the painting as you work. You can see how I use it in the "Mikula" leopard and "Restful Joy" giraffe sections.

Mikula

This magnificent Amur leopard, Mikula lives in the Lincoln Children's Zoo located in Lincoln, Nebraska. The few that exist in the wild are found in remote parts of the China/Russia border called the Amur River Valley, the mountains of Northeast China, Ussuri River Valley across the China-North Korea border, and the Korean Peninsula. (3.LCZ)

Step 1: I started with photos I have taken of Mikula. I took plenty of photos before I had enough to combine for a good composition. Mikula was hidden behind a study fence, some plexus glass and many vines.

Step 2: I use suede board for most of my paintings because it holds the pastel well and gives the paintings a soft texture. This is great for animal fur. Pastels are almost pure pigment and have little binding to hold it together. Thus, the colors can be soft or vibrant.

Set up your area with your supplies before starting. Spraying with a fixative or non-scented hair spray to hold the chalk is important.

Caution: Be careful, and do not over spray or get the pastels too wet. Spray lightly. Spray at least two feet from your painting. Practice on a scrap piece first. Spray in a ventilated space because it is important to protect your health.

Step 3: Now, we want to sketch the outlines of the leopard with light colored pastel pencils on suede board. Hold the pastel stick like a pencil. Use the tip of the pastel to draw the edges.

Step 4: Soft strokes were added over the light sketch. This begins to give the leopard noticeable shapes, such as shapes of the eyes, nose, mouth, and whole body. Notice the aluminum foil below the painting. It is folded to create a "catch" for the chalk dust that falls while painting.

Step 5: Layers of color are applied. The space behind and around the leopard is darkened with a dark brown such as the color burnt umber. Dark greens, grays and burgundy colors are applied blended to create the stones wall and ledge the leopard is reclining upon. Hold the pastel stick in as way that you can use the side of it to apply the chalk and cover more area. Lightly use your fingers or a paintbrush to blend the pastel, by pushing the colors together. I encourage you to try this on a scrap piece of paper or suede board. Lighter colors were added on top of the dark areas to create contrast and the likeness of fur. The texture of the fur is different from the stone/rock area. The fur is soft looking, yet you need to see textured strokes of some of the fur to make it convincing. The stone and rock area need to have a smooth textured look. Yes, it is a visual thing to be able to tell the difference between the surfaces.

Step 6: Notice the added detail of the leopard's spots as we go along. I spray with fixative or unscented hair spray between layering. This creates a more gritty surface for the pastels to adhere. Vines are then added on top as another layer. You can see the details of the leopard's eyes and the texture of his fur. Notice the softness combination of the pastel and suede board. It gives this piece a much softer appeal.

Mikula is a beautiful leopard.

When I took the photos of Mikula, it was feeding time. He rather preferred to sit and sunbathe than eat. He just looked at the zookeeper. She explained that even though he didn't come to get the food, he is still very much a wild animal. She went into a double-gated area that kept her separated from Mikula. She placed the food and left it for him.

Zuri and Avus

Zuri and Avus are African lions that live in the Topeka Zoo in Kansas. The Lions Pride opened in 1989. Zuri and Avus also have another lion in their pride named Asante. (5.TZ) The photo used for this drawing was taken from a long distance. You can see some of the obstacles in the way and the details are not real clear, making this painting more of a challenge.

Step 1: Start with sketching softly with grays and brown toned pastel pencils. Look at the shapes of the lion and lioness. There are many oval, curved and rounded shapes. You don't have to know how to draw a straight line!

Step 2: Notice here how various colors block/fill in certain areas. I used colors such as Burnt Siena, Raw Siena on the lions. It is like coloring in a coloring book. Now, fill in the shapes with more of a golden yellow color. Begin drawing in shapes of the slab rocks underneath the lions using a medium gray. Focus on the shapes and then fill in with lighter gray tones. You can add darker grays back onto the painting to create shadows on the slab rocks. Use your fingers or 1/4" paint brush to blend the chalk.

Step 3: Background colors of gray, dark burgundy, and dark green are now added to provide dark contrast behind the bodies of the lion and lioness to create contrast. This will be what is called the 'under painting' for the foliage in the background. Under painting is a base color in which you can add more pastel colors on top. This layering allows light colors to show up on top of darker colors, and vice versa.

Step 4: Add some different shades of gray on the rock slabs. As we add other colors such as lighter greens in the background and foreground, it adds more depth. I always apply the colors throughout the painting to pull it together. The colors need to flow throughout the whole painting. No individual color should be isolated from the rest of the colors in the painting. All the colors need to give the viewer a visual feeling of 'all colors connect'.

One thing I have learned from painting this piece is that I needed to rearrange the composition/layout. An artist needs to arrange the objects in a painting so the viewer will keep their eyes looking within the painting and not 'off the page.' In this piece, it might have been better to overlap the lion and lioness, moving the female more in front of the male. I could have also allowed more space in front of the male lion. With the lion too close to the right edge, it causes your eyes to leave the painting on that side instead of visually staying within the painting. You do not have to always paint exactly what you see. I eliminated the back right paw of the male lion because it did not come across visually appealing. Please see the painting in Step 4, as the back paw of the lion is visible. You will not see the paw in the final piece. The paw is covered up with dark gray. A few layers of lighter gray and browns where added on top of the dark gray.

Avus and Zuri make a beautiful pair. One more lioness lives in the Topeka Zoo.

Sampson

Sampson, the mountain lion lived in the David Traylor Zoo of Emporia, Kansas. Sampson lived to be 16 years old in captivity.

Sampson arrived at the Zoo in 1998, as an orphan from Wyoming and quickly became a favorite for Zoo visitors. It was not unusual to see Sampson lounging in his cave at the front of his exhibit watching visitors pass by or spending time up in his tree overseeing the entire Zoo. (2. DTZE).

Step 1: This sketch is created with dark colors (burgundy and black) to form shapes and shadows on the boulders and the mountain lion. The surface is a gray suede board. Lighter colors were used to provide contrast on the boulders and mountain lion.

Step 2: More highlights are created using lighter colors such as a cream and light brown. Notice how the burgundy color is used to make shadows. The rotation of the chalk pastel colors from dark to light and light to dark, are used while spraying lightly with the fixative. This process provides a textured surface for layering.

Step 3: The top layers consist of lighter colors such as gold, tan and white for highlights to complete the painting. Sprays of grass are coming up between the rocks. The grass is created using long strokes of green and brown colors.

What a magnificent mountain lion!

Young Fox Resting

This young Kit Fox is in the Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, Omaha, Nebraska (4.OHDZA). You can find him in the desert climate at the zoo.

The small Kit Fox was high up on a ledge, so I had to get on my tippy toes, hold my camera as high as I could reach, in order to take this photo. It was really worth it, because I was able to view him at eye level instead of at an angle.

In this piece, the fox is displayed before the details of the fur were added. The colors of reds, medium/light grays and some lavender colors are applied to serve as an under painting.

Next, the lightly colored strokes are applied carefully. The strokes need to be thin so the fur appears soft. The dark value behind the fox allows the stroke of the fur to stand out in contrast. See how the fur stands up on its back? I wonder if he is as soft as he looks?

Restful Joy

Jesse the giraffe resting in the Topeka, Zoo, Kansas. (5.TZ)

Step 1: You guessed it! The sketch comes first! This time, the painting is drawn on a light brownish mat board with very little texture to hold the pastel chalk. Spray more often between layers of color.

Step 2: Medium value of color is added as the under painting. Darker values are added for shadows by using a darker brown. Spraying with fixative or a non-scented aerosol spray is used to set the pastel. This is done in a well-ventilated room or outside. This creates some texture that works as another layer.

Step 3: Details of the fur, eyes/lashes, ears, and mane are carefully applied. Short and carefully applied strokes are important. This takes practice and patience.

Step 4: The grassy area is painted with short angled strokes of various greens, browns, white and gold colors in the foreground and around the sides of the giraffe. The giraffe then looks like he is lying in the grass.

This peaceful animal may be well camouflaged due to its fur color and patterns. Notice use of the aluminum foil below the artwork. This catches some the chalk that falls as you paint.

The Topeka Zoo has scheduled dates and times visitors can get up close to the giraffes. (http://topekazoo.org/events-activities/giraffe-feeding/) It is an amazing experience to observe these fascinating animals! (5.TZ)

The Sunbather

This Nile River hippopotamus was sun bathing in the Topeka Zoo, located in Topeka, Kansas. His name is Vision. (4.TZ)

Step 1-4: The first illustration is the actual photo of the hippopotamus. He was "sunbathing" in the outdoor pool of water.

In the second thru the fourth illustrations, you can see how the color was built up from light to dark with lighter colors applied on each layer. I went from light to dark to lighter highlights for the layering. This piece was painted on a gray mat board. This painting is now in a private collection.

The sketch is not shown here, but you will need to draw a sketch of the painting with a pastel pencil before you add the under painting. In this painting, you will go back and forth from dark to light and light to dark to complete the painting. Light colored chalk, such as light grays and light reds, is used on top of the darker colors,.

Darker layers of color were added here as I drew a little too light with the strokes. I went a little too far with the highlights. It was necessary to add dark shadows.

It is time for more highlights. Apply the whiskers carefully with long angled strokes. The top strokes help to illustrate the depth of the water, and the whiskers to be more noticeable.

Vision is a Nile River hippopotamus. He looks like he is grinning while he enjoys the coolness of the water. (4.TZ)