Leopards

Rarest of all the big cats, the snow leopard lives on the treeless rocks and alpine meadows of the Himalayas and other mountainous areas of central Asia. In the Himalayas, its last major stronghold, only 200 to 600 individuals remain.

Coheleach painted the preening adult in 1979, in preparation for his book, 'The Big Cats'. The portrait of the snow leopard family was done eight years later, at the request of a friend.

"There are many ways to paint fur. One is to paint every hair, which impresses people, but in a painting like this, it would be boring. You want to make it look like all the hair is there, but without detailing it. There are many little brushstrokes here. But you could paint this scene just as easily with a wet canvas - turpentine all over it - letting the spots bleed into the gray areas and showing no strokes at all."