Homage to Cecil

[Diane Miller]

I've always had a soft spot for lions, and I'm just sick about the story of Cecil -- and the many others we don't hear about. I shot this in the wilds of the Los Angeles Zoo several years ago. He was intently focused on a snack bar. I wonder if his feeder was over there....

The BG was ugly, hence the tight crop and ragged frame. The light was clearing fog blanketed by LA smog. I love it when that happens!

Corel Painter. I'm not sure I ever quite finished it -- I see some brush strokes that need a little cleanup -- easy to do with the wonderful flexibility of the program -- the paint never dries!

[Cheryl Slechta]

Hi, Diane, thanks for posting this - I was sick at heart when I read about Cecil and this is a beautiful reminder of how majestic lions are. I love the painting and the edges. Thanks for sharing

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Just beautiful. Beautiful tones and colours, and those eyes just shine. I wonder about a bit more room under the chin? I hope good will come out of this horrific incident.

[Diane Miller]

I agree about the room under the chin. His paw was just cropped out there in the original. But the great thing about a painting (and all the other creative effects I see here) is that you can do a lot of cloning and other work on the original that doesn't have to be perfect, and then do the creative thing. I hadn't checked that my now-old Painter 12 would still work since I upgraded to Mac's OS 10 (Yosemite), so I tried an image and it still works! So I dug out the original file and started over, and have it ready to paint, with more room all around. I haven't had time to use it for a while so I'll see if I've lost my chops. (Could be...) I'll repost if I find time to get something worthwhile.

[Nancy Bell]

Spectacular! Love the intensity of his eyes! You did a great painting job with perfect coloring and blending of fur textures. Trophy hunting has always disgusted me and I just don't understand how someone can look at a majestic and unsuspecting animal and pull the trigger.

[Diane Miller]

Or shoot the poor thing with an arrow and wound it and track it for some time before finally killing it! As I said on another form:

I think we should actually encourage trophy hunting. But on a fair basis: hand to hand combat. Then we'll see who has the bigger balls. I think the average house cat would stand a decent chance here.

[Sandy Witvoet]

Mesmerizing and a lovely tribute, Diane!

[Gabriela Plesea]

Hello Diane,

Lovely image and I am mesmerised by this lion's eyes. I love your processing, makes it seem as if the subject was looking at you through a glass panel. Which made me sad in some way, and when you mentioned Cecil it suddenly occurred to me that this legendary creature had a more fulfilling life than any given lion in captivity. The story of Cecil is highly controversial and we do not have all the facts, at least not yet. As much as I dislike hunting as such, having spent some time to learn about the environment I understand there is no other way to keep wildlife populations in control. Great news is, in this little corner of Africa where I live we now have more wildlife than ever before - twenty years ago my village was surrounded by cattle farms, nowadays it's all game farms and the population of lions is thriving. As well as wild dog, etc.

Thank you for this post Diane, very thought provoking and I thoroughly enjoyed viewing

Kind regards,

[Diane Miller]

Thanks, ladies!

The problem isn't hunting per se, which often involves providing food, population control for the animals' own good in a limited ecosystem, and helping to ensure the safety of villages. But trophy hunting, which is not only ego based but takes the best specimens, is quite another story. I wish I could find the reference, but a year or two ago there was a story about long-standing hunting in our Rocky Mountains -- deer or elk if I recall -- and so much of it was trophy hunting that the gene pool has been altered to the point that the proportion of the biggest and most handsome specimens has seriously declined. That's a major issue, somewhat akin to burning huge swaths of forests such as the Amazon that may never recover.

[Judy Howle]

A very nice tribute to Cecil. I was reading more on that story online today. A tragic event to feed someone's ego. Nice work on the painting!