I did this painting of an African wild dog (based on one of my pictures taken in Ngala, South Africa) already back in December. I needed a proper Christmas gift for my husband and so I decided to quickly put something together. “Ayanda” took me a total of 5 days … which was definitely much faster than expected. But house guests from overseas were about to arrive only days later, so I was short on time and just needed to “get it done”.
Why a wild dog? They are my favorite animals. They are fast, determined, successful, social, playful, gorgeous and unfortunately very rare. They are also known as painted hunting dog, painted wolf, African hunting dog or African painted dog. “The 2016 population was estimated at roughly 39 subpopulations containing 6,600 adults, only 1,400 of which were reproductive. The decline of these populations is ongoing, due to habitat fragmentation, human persecution and disease outbreaks.” Wikipedia.
Why “Ayanda”? This is actually the beautiful name of a very nice staff member at the Mountain Lodge at Phinda, SA …
I am very happy that the painting was finished on time and I hope that it does sufficient justice to this wonderful animal.
Cheers, Sabine
The Hirt Portfolios 