Impala's Soul

"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle; when the sun comes up, you'd better be running."
~Herb Caen~

Animals are wonderful to paint... not only do they show character and expression, love and energy but they have the ability to creep into the hearts of all that know them. 

The juvenile Impala that were prounching and pronking around at Jejane Nature Reserve were a delight to watch. We were in hysterics at their antics, I just had to capture these lovely graceful little creatures with my camera. The Impala are very common in South African Game Reserves and are often overlooked as they seem to be grazing around every corner and hill. One starts becoming complacent every time we see them. It's such a shame! We take it for granted as we know there are more herds over the next rise and just drive straight past them.   Meanwhile, they have the most wonderful markings and colouring and have gorgeous big eyes, I think that's where the expression 'doe eyed' comes from........ I also love this quote........

An animal's eyes have the power to speak a great language. ~ Martin Buber

I did a watercolour of a male ram I captured as he looked on, totally bemused by his offspring's 'race day'. This expression was a delight to paint...... hope you love his expression too!

 Male Impala

This is the study sketch I did to get his colouring...