Russ Beard's Lion

[Aggie]

When i cut the lion I did a stack cut and this is the 1st time I tried to paint one,please let me know what you honestly  think about it.

Edited August 23 by Aggie

[Fab4]

Hi Aggie:
This becomes a personal choice on what you are showing here
They both look good, well done.
If I have to choose one, I go with the unpainted one.
Keep up the great work
Fab4

[yamatetsu]

I would go for the unpainted one, if I wanted to show craftmanship.

 

The painted one, to me, has two problems. The lion and the landscape look fairly realistic, while the clouds definitely do not. This is a bit jarring.

The dark mass of the grass takes too much space.  If this was my picture, I would lower the grass line a bit.

A clear sky and a lowered grass line turn the lion into the center piece of the picture.

Edited August 23 by yamatetsu

[rjweb]

Very nice I like the natural look, RJ

[Peter N White]

Looks very nice no clouds look better.

[FrankEV]

On 8/22/2026 at 11:47 PM, Aggie said:

When i cut the lion I did a stack cut and this is the 1st time I tried to paint one,please let me know what you honestly  think about it.

Adding color is a good thing to do, but it needs to be done properly. Unfortunately your addition of color did not really work in this case.  Sort of looks like a coloring book.  To add color you need to think like an artist. Color needs to add details and realism, eg. Soft puffy clouds, grass, variation of fur color, etc.  Use photos of a real lion in this pose and attempt to add color as seen in the photo.  Takes a lot of practice.

[barb.j.enders]

I am with most on this.  The natural one looks best.  If you want to add colour, you could do some "dry brushing" on the lion only.  That would add hints of colour only.

[heppnerguy]

 I too am working on coloring my projects too. I like how much better they stand out when posted on the wall. I do not expect to ever become a true artist but I am going to continue to paint and try to learn. If that is your desire, take the remarks that are all intended to help and continue to paint and learn to make it realistic as you can. Look at your results and see what you might do a little differently next time. That is how you achieve your desires. It is just like scrolling, when you start out, it is quite difficult and your mistakes can be way off what you were hoping for but with time it becomes easier and more satisfying. 

Dick

heppnerguy