WOO - HOO ... Final Stage of the Cats

THIS is what I LIKE! A nice soft and supportive background. I mixed some gold and indanthrone, painted along the outline and scrambled it outwards to soften. I may add a touch more near her eyes with the blue, but overall I do like the look.

This was one of my many attempts to get "the look".

Sponging ... NO!

A swatch with some other attempts and color combinations.

More trial and error ...

EEK!!! NO!!!

Ditto!

Like the effect but not the color. Thankfully, I had all the color studies I had done earlier  with which to play.

Nice, but too dramatic, I feel, for the owner. I will be using gentle colors tending to warm, and something to bring out their eyes.

And this is a sketch of one of my next projects. Meet the Greater Bilby. I had never heard of this beastie before, and when I saw a photo, I felt compelled to draw and paint him. He is a rabbit-sized marsupial, living in the drier areas of Australia. He is also on the endangered list. I would like to do [hopefully] one drawing and/or painting a week of an endangered animal.

Thank you so much for dropping in!!!

A TALE OF TWO KITTIES

Looking absolutely nothing like a cat!!! ... just thin washes of alizarin crimson and burnt orange

Wet-in-wet applications of aureolin and burnt orange for the eyes, and thin direct applications of a black started on her face.

STILL not looking much like a cat. Continuing with direct applications of the black ... 

Another w/w of burnt orange for the eyes. Then I wet the entire area on which I want some black. I start with a very dilute mixture to get the paint flowing over a large area, then stroke on some thicker pigment. I continue till the paper is too dry to accept paint.

A pair of pupils - always a good idea. Also another w/w application of a dark brown from the top of the eyes to simulate shadow. NOW she's starting to look like a cat! 

A bit of touching up with thin glazes of black, and she is done. Just a hint of background needed. 

Another strange-looking beastie! I have wet the entire head and neck and stroked in some phthalo blue and a mix of that blue with a bright pink.

These eyes are also done with w/w applications of aureolin and burnt  orange; the ears with pink and a touch of burnt orange. Lots of teeny, fine brush strokes in the direction of hair growth ...

... and still more brush strokes ... 

I like how the process of wetting and softly brushing in black softens the appearance of the coat. So once again, I mix up three dilutions of color, wet the entire area to be black, and start dropping in paint.

And here is Black Cat #2. I wasn't sure if I really loved the look, but after leaving the two portraits for a day or two, and putting them side by side, I quite like them. YAY!!!!

I worked on these two together - just mixed up a vat of black paint and got going. They were both done inside of a week [that must be a record for me!] The next one is going to be more of a challenge - he has a very flat face ... almost no facial "structure" to work with, as well as having some fussy coat coloration. But that's five portraits done so far!!!

Thank you so much for dropping by!

The Tale of the Tabby or Another Painting Process ...

Drawing

First washes - light grey for fur, aureolin with phthalo blue and burnt orange for eyes 

Adding texture to fur

Several washes, and many teeny strokes of dilute color ...

More of the same ... and shadowing her eyes

Adding part of the body

Intensifying and detailing

Here she is so far. My plan is to get all eight cats to this level of completion, then line them all up and decide on a unifying background for all of them. So far, I have three done ...
The colors I use with this cat for the eye are aureolin, phthalo blue and burnt orange, with the shadow made of burnt orange, scarlet lake and indanthrone. Her fur, both greys and blacks are made with burnt orange, scarlet lake and indanthrone. The initial stages are a wet-in-wet technique, followed by one heck of a lot tiny brush strokes [a somewhat meditative exercise]. 

Such a sweet-looking girl.

Another photo I am using to get a better idea of her striping.

The next two cats, both blacks, are waiting on the board. One will be getting a phthalo blue under wash, the other a red.
The cat saga continues ...

Thank you so much for your visit!