Painting Panthers in the forest

A quick walk through process of painting a forest scene and a confrontation between some highly solitary and territorial big cats. I can only guess they're about to throw down and resolve the dispute through force. "History is often written in blood and History is written by the victor"

I started this painting off with just black and white, these two tones would set the foundations for the rest of the composition.

Midway I decided to change the composition and add a small gully to the side where I would add a third panther that would intercept the other two. I thought this was more interesting, this would become the source of light spilling through the trees, casting shadows across the stream.

Panthers are now so rare and so stealthy that they are rarely seen by humans at all. For this reason, they are known as the ghosts of the forest. Panthers are now considered to be endangered since although they are not a distinct species, both leopards and jaguars are considered to be threatened.

Thanks for looking!