"There is no cutting of corners and patience will pay in the end."
By David Dancey-Wood
Wildlife Sketches have just informed me of a very special customer in the US who has purchased a copy of my Basking Agama Picture. You will see why at the end of this post, but seeing the picture has brought back so many memories.
When I first started out in the world of fine art making the transition from being a commercial illustrator, I knew I was keen to bring along certain elements with me. Those came in the skills I had built up of many years illustrating herpetological subjects. I had carved myself out quite a name in the world of illustration for my specialization in reptiles and amphibians. Always having had a huge obsession with reptiles I became determined to make this my niche and make sure I could paint and draw reptiles to the highest level I could. For years I learned the anatomy of each species and taught myself how to draw scales with perfection. When I started drawing pictures for myself as an artist it was only a matter of time before I introduced some of my scaly friends.
The Agama picture titled basking agama was the first print of a reptile I released and still to this day I can look back at it and not cringe like I do for some of my other older pictures. Every artist moves on through their career and looks back at their earlier work and sees how they have improved over the years. I would be terribly troubled if I looked back and realised that my work had gone downhill instead of up. Every now and again I will look at the lizard picture and remind myself that there is no cutting of corners and patience will pay in the end. The time it took to draw the agama was equivalent to many a larger mammal picture due to its need for accuracy and detail.
On this note it is so lovely to see that people are still enjoying this picture and how wonderful it is now owned by a herpetologist who knows these animals better than anyone.
Many Thanks to Joshua Small for allowing us to use his brilliant photo here.
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