On the Lookout...

On the Lookout is the first in what I hope to be a series of African wildlife gourds.

It was completed first with pyrography then gone over with a light application of colored pencils.
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The main focus of this one is the cheetah family, this brother and sister are young and still hunt together.  Shown below, they are resting yet brother is keeping a lookout for both prey and predators.​

As the gourd is turned, the focus is on the hunt of a wildebeest.  Although known for running at super fast speed (an amazing 70 mph!)  their hunts are many times unsuccessful.  Shown here, do you think this will be a successful hunt?​

Again the gourd is turned and you will find a herd of zebra seeking relief from the heat in the shade of some trees.  I wanted to portray another animal that has an association with the cheetah on the opposite side of the gourd.  Although they might be the cheetah's prey, they too are enjoying some rest.

Turn the gourd again and a theme that I intend to explore some more.  This time we have some giraffes at a watering hole.  The watering hole is a fascinating place.  All animals, prey and predator, furred, hoofed, winged, toothed, beaked and trunked all need water.  And at this special place they congregate to quench their thirst.  Some will come at specific times of the day, they give deference to the elephants and the lions, but they all come and call a kind of truce while they drink.  Unless there are crocs in the water, then the story isn't so sweet.  

The rim of this gourd was finished with pine needle coiling.  The bottom of the gourd has a border of chip carving.  
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I hope you enjoyed reading about this new gourd!  I am already in the sketching process of my next in the series; care to guess which animal will be on the next gourd?