Cheetahs were David Shepherd’s favourite of all cats. What he loved most about them was their ‘regal air’, a combination of their sleek physique, unparalleled grace, and the striking pattern of their fur. In his 1990 work, The Watch, Shepherd captures a very rare and intimate sighting: a group of cheetahs together with a cub. With his distinct artistic approach, in this work Shepherd invites viewers to share in his admiration for the regal cheetah. Working in his study format familiar to his preliminary sketches, here Shepherd has developed this composition onto canvas, making for a work which displays the multiple facets of each of his subjects. At the same time, the viewer is offered a rare insight into the artist at work by eroding the boundaries between preparation and finished article.