Leaping Fox

‘LEAPING FOX’ was an early work painted in what’s become my constant style. It’s no exaggeration to say the following about everything else I’ve painted since: It all owes a debt to this picture.

I painted its head first and everything flowed from there. Consider the whirling patterns, especially down the back of the Fox. The full, bushy tail, again carrying intricate, yet stylised patterning. All these elements were strong in my imagination: all I had to do was paint them in. This was one of those rare occasions when the picture really did ‘paint itself’. If only every new work unfolded with such confidence!