This is a commissioned painting I have started working on, based on my client's reference photograph. I usually work from my own images - but this commission is fun because it's taken at Etosha National Park in Namibia, one of my favourite places on Earth. And they got closer to a Black-Faced Impala, than I did when I was there, so it's great to have the opportunity to paint this!
Black-Faced Impala is a subspecies of the common Impala - with the difference being their distinctive dark facial markings, which will be evident in the painting later. Wikipedia tells it best: "While the species as whole is never endangered, this subspecies had come close to extinction. In 1968 - 1971 310 individuals were transferred to Etosha National Park for better protection, and its number is steadily increasing. However, the current population is still less than 1,000 and interbreeding with the common impala from nearby farms is damaging to the gene pool."
Pardon the terrible lighting, as usual - I swear, there's enough light on my painting desk, just the camera doesn't think so!
The reference photograph unfortunately did not include the top of the closer horn, but the client's request was that it be included, so I made an educated guess here. The perspective on the horns is rather difficult - fortunately they approve
great start 
Linear Mode
