My purple painting of "Leo the Lion" (see the Astrology section of this website) was the fourth lion image created during a watercolor painting session in July 2006; it appeared in the Gazette with my article "Leo the Lion Brings Inner Child out to Play." My second attempt at Leo resulted in this image on a cream colored, heavily textured handmade paper that resembles pale leather. The sharply detailed face contrasts with the sweet pink of the ears, nose, and chin and with the soft, colorful mane that sports a few sharp-edged strokes to give the feeling of individual hairs. This piece felt closer to what we needed for publication, yet it wasn't quite right--primarily because the shape, the angled view of the face, and the increasing width below the chin versus the narrower width at the top of the head made it look like a poodle.
