The final stage focuses on building the strands of hair to fill out the rest of the orangutan's head. I employ a mix of Australian red gold and burnt umber tones as the lights here with caput mortum and warm grey playing supporting roles on the back.
With the hair now done I do some minor refinements and sign the image. It is now ready for sale.
About the Artist: Leigh Rust (view website) is an Australian wildlife artist who works in a variety of mediums, including pastels, oils, acrylics, watercolors, and colored pencils.
Leigh says: "I get my reference material the hard way - I take the photos. With the exception of a few times when I've worked from Scotch Macaskill's incredible photos, I have spent many hours at my local zoos taking hundreds and hundreds of photos searching for the magic. Along with this I do many on-site gestural sketches to get a feel for the way the animal moves so that I can incorporate that into my art."