A Peek Into my Portfolio

Some of you might remember that I painted a red panda for my brother, who is an animal enthusiast, over the summer. He asked me to to do one of a one-horned rhino right after he got the red panda. Of course, it has taken me from the summer until this week to finish it. Getting married and beginning at a new school put a stop to extra creative projects for a little bit. Anyway, it's done and I love it. What's better, my brother loves it too! Here is the progression of my one-horned rhino painting in oil paints:

These are obviously just in the beginning stages, laying down a lean layer of paint to block out where I want the basic shapes, and then beginning to fill in darks and lights.

I finished filling in the large areas of dark and light and begin on the background. I used a metal palette knife for the background to give it some texture and suggest foliage.

Then I added texture. As you might imagine, there is a ton of texture on a rhino. In a lot of places, I only hinted at the texture.

Then I decided that I didn't like the muzzle portion so I painted over that area, re-doing the darks and lights and then blending them together and re-adding texture. I also redid the horn.

And here is the finished piece! Thanks for taking a peek inside my portfolio!