Trying out ideas for #UnnaturalBorders #SalfordQuays

,My art club in Salford was invited to represent the borough in a competition against other local boroughs. The theme was "Unnatural Borders" an installation at Salford quays of endangered species.
There were four sculptures that lit up at night.
The club met on a Sunday afternoon and i was able to do some studies. I also went back one evening, to see them lit up, and decided to use these images.
Working outside my comfort zone i decided to try a couple of different studies to interpret my ideas.
The first one (shown above) involved using tissue paper crumpled up and glued down to give a textured effect. Washes of acrylic paint were then applied.
I tried different backgrounds before settling on a plain one. To this I added the two star installations  representing The Great Bear constellation Ursa Major and The Little Bear constellation Ursa Minor, The Little Dipper.
For my second one (shown below) I wanted to show the colours reflected on the body of the bear. After a few trial runs i decided to paint the colours I wanted and then cut these into  shape. These were then glued in the appropriate positions. 

For my final attempt I decided to go to my normal style using thicker paint but with a brush and palette knife this time.
Because the painting had to be handed in shortly I had to use acrylic paint as oil paint would not be dry in time. This was again outside my comfort zone as it is about twenty years since I regularly used them for painting and even then in a different style. 
I'm reasonably pleased with the result but prefer my oil paints to get the effects I want.
You can see the work by the other artists on the following website. Some really talented artists in the group and a range of interpretations.
www.salfordartclub.com/blog-demonstrations-workshops-etc/members-paintings-for-salford-quays-unnatural-borders