Lion

Lion__oil on linen panel 8x6__$250
Here's a study... I will probably take it with me to an upcoming wildlife show. The lion was seen just walking across a causeway in South Africa, and the sun was hitting him just right. I have had this photo (from a friend/artist in South Africa, Liz Pearson) for about a year, and have been wanting to paint it! I just came upon it in my laptop files (which are all in different order since I had the laptop "fixed"....THANK YOU, E....!), so maybe the dis-order helped me locate this photo to work from! THANK YOU, LIZ, for the photo!!!

Click the image to see some detail!

Lion Lounge

Lion Lounge_11x14 pencil on acid free paper__$250 (click to enlarge)
I hope some of the kids and teachers who saw the start of this drawing will send me a note of "howdy" if they see this one finished. I did a demo for the Federal Junior Duck Stamp group in South Carolina on Tuesday. The talk I gave while drawing this was all about the importance of sketching. I spoke about "seeing" the easiest elements: line, shapes, values, and built the drawing with values rather than "outlines"....I will be teaching this thoroughly at my next big workshop in June (5-7) here in Texas. Ask for info! vvaughan8@yahoo.com
This morning I was leaving the house to go pick up my new tennis racquet at Golfsmith in Austin, TX. As I was leaving, my daughter called about a big fire across the highway from Golfsmith. The police had just passed her on the road and she snapped a few pics with her cell phone. She was passing it as we spoke, and said it looked like the building exploded. Just then my son called and his boss had been nearby at the same location and heard that an airplane crashed into the building!...It is all over the national news. I decided to save the errand for later. A few hours ago I went to get the racquet and snapped my own picture of the building you are seeing on the news today. The real damage is around to the left...This was an awful day in Austin, but many are thankful that the evil intended did not pan out to the extent that the pilot intended when he flew the plane into the building...