I can finally reveal this painting as it has been delivered to its very surprised and delighted recipient!
This is bear 747 who lives in Katmai National Park, Alaska and is one of the biggest bears around. He is fairly battered - you may notice that he has only one ear showing in the painting - his other ear was nearly torn off a few years ago, presumably in a fight with another bear, and is now just a loose furry nub. It doesn't detract from his good looks however! 747 was one of the most dominant bears at Brooks Falls for many years, although he is aging now and not quite so aggressive - I wouldn't mess with him though!
I was asked to paint this bear, 747, by a photographer as a present for a mutual friend. The photograph he supplied me with was in black and white and showed this amazing bear in all his glory. I did not use black as such in my painting as I felt it would make the picture flat and a bit lifeless, so I used Payne's Grey for most of it which gives a slightly blue tinge, and black for the deeper shadows.
This is a fairly large painting, watercolour on paper. I have left a large expanse of white paper at the top of the picture as I felt it added something to the over all effect.
I loved painting this, and was very sorry when it was finished - I did get myself a print made so that he wasn't completely gone!
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