When Photographs Become Paintings, The Magic Happens!
Explore the wildness with Clint Eagar on the canvas.
Not only when photographs have that mysterious captured moment, it’s when they become paintings in the hands of a master painter, they become magical!
Here’s Photographer Bruce Finocchio’s image of the Tugwaan 5:4 or the Bicycle Crossing Male, from Londolozi Private Game Reserve. Side by side is Clint Eagar’s Painting from Finocchio’s photo of this magnificent male leopard.
Clint Eagar is an Industrial Designer and artist, originally, from South Africa, now working out of his own gallery / studio in Santa Rosa Beach, FL. He wanted to paint Finocchio’s image as soon as he saw the photo that Finocchio took during his trip in South Africa.
Clint Eagar was recently awarded Safari Club International Artist of the year for 2020. He displayed his work, including this beautiful leopard painting, at the 48th Safari Club Annual Sportsman’s Convention in Reno, Nevada.
Eagar’s wildlife paintings can be viewed on his website at www.ClintEagarDesign.com; You can view Bruce Finocchino’s images at Flick.com
History Behind The Image - Bicycle Crossing Male (Tugwaan 5:4)
This leopard was a dominant territorial male in the Sabi Sands Game Reserve in South Africa, establishing a large long-held territory in the southeastern section of Londolozi and the western portion along the Sand River. The Bicycle Crossing Male also know as Tugwaan 5:4 male (5:4 referring to the spot pattern just below his whiskers, and established way to ID Leopards), is a beautiful male with a distinctive “V” spot pattern shape on his forehead. Finocchio took this image in the fall of 2005 when the leopard was 3+ years old, and just becoming the dominate Male Leopard he would be. Born to the Short-tailed female in Early 2002 in the same litter as the Ximpalapala female, he had a long life, just recently passing away in the summer of 2017. He was a very famous male leopard and he had devoted followers across the world. You can read more about him on the Londolozi Leopard page at https://leopards.londolozi.com/leopard/tugwaan-54-male.
