I think it's wonderful~ don't be so hard on yourself~

Beautifuly done.
Copiyng is a great way to improve, but you're obviously already gifted ^^

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Art is... quoi déjà ? A Bang ?

Thank you both

Oops I suppose I should have said 'photograph' rather than 'picture' when refering to the subject matter.........Edited and sorted now!

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Hell hath no fury like a woman with a sharp object and no chocolate!!!

Wow, just great. I got an answer to my question about photo;s for reference, in your description. Sorry for asking. The fur, the shadows....and you are very picky on your work I must say! I enjoy your art very much.

Thank you Nancy
yes I usually use photo reference although sometimes I'll push myself and work from life (Daddy's Girl for instance) but that's very very occaissionally, I need to practise life drawing a lot more!
I like to pick photos and do drawings/paintings which tell the onlooker what that animal is, how it thinks and how it behaves, not just what it looks like. To me that particular picture said 'jackal', you could see from the poise that it doesn't even relax when taking a drink, it's mind is constantly ticking over and it's ever watchful for bigger predators or for something to eat. I tried to recapture that. It's a moment frozen in time.

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Hell hath no fury like a woman with a sharp object and no chocolate!!!

You surely did succeed on that! The tension (?) in the animal, the look in his eyes, all shows us that he is not relaxed at all. I like your thought behind your art. Great work.

Did I mention the water already? The ripples....wow.

thats lovely. i've never used watercolour so i cant really say whether u used em well or not proffessionally, but just by seein this piccy, makes me wonder how many years of painting with watercolour u have had, cos it looks georgous!!!

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It's good to be a little crazy.

Thank you
I've only been using watercolour paint for about 9-10 months, up until then I was a bit afraid of them as I'm used to working with pencils or graphics programmes such as Photoshop and therefor I was used to putting in fine detail. I was under the impression that to use watercolour properly you had to forgo all of that and I didn't like the idea of not having as much control over what I did. That changed when I read through a book I'd had for years about painting birds as one artist, whos work was stunning and very detailed, used watercolour but built it up slowly in layers. I liked his work and tried it using his method. It has taken time but I'm getting used to it and actually quite enjoying using paint now.

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Hell hath no fury like a woman with a sharp object and no chocolate!!!