Fallow Deer

This is my first deer painting.  I spent the day at Parkanaur forest photographing them and I loved a shot I got of these three deer.  They were so deep in their pending drama I got quite close in the long grass with my long lens.  The female has spotted me, but I loved that it made her connect with the viewer.  In my mind she is looking over as if to say “Men!” followed by a tut and roll of the eyes.

Thanks to Emma in Art and Home who came up with the title Single White Female which just made me laugh 🙂

‘Single White Female’ Pastel 27″x18″ I cropped my finished painting a little to this which I think works much better.

Using the warm orangey yellow velour for some added warmth.  I’ve sketched in the three deer. It’s a bit awkward doing a time lapse as I have to be constantly aware of the camera in case I’m blocking it or working outside of my zoomed in area!

Blocking in the background.  If you’d like to see how I build up the blurred effect the video will be more useful as you’ll be able to see each layer that goes down and how I blend it on the velour which, if you’ve tried it, is pretty strange to blend on.

Onto the deer.  They are quite small to work on so I use tiny shards of pastel as well as a few pastel pencils.  The loose large marks in the background really help the small detail in the deer’s faces to stand out.

You can see the shades I’m using in the undercoat of the deer. Blue Violet and Red Earth Unison shades with the lightest value in the painting being their highlights of Grey 27 which is lovely and warm.  Even though they are in the shade themselves as the sun is falling below the tree levels, I want them to look as glowing and warm as they do in real life.

Starting to add in the long grass which will come quite far up on them.  In my reference photo the grass is a good bit higher in places but I wanted to show a little more of them

The foreground has been a head scratcher!  I wanted the viewer to feel how I felt hunkered down in the long grass trying not to disturb their drama.  I knew at this stage I wanted the grass in the foreground to interfere a little less so I have added blurred grasses and lightened the area since.  Who knows, maybe it’s still not finished!

Single White Female framed with museum glass.

Close up of their faces

Please check back for my time lapse video which I’m currently working on.  I’m going to slow some sections down showing how I apply the pastel and blend so it can be a little more informative than my usual speedy time lapses.  Coming soon… 🙂