Studio Cat 2 ~ sketch

First sketch for Studio Cat 2. I wanted to include the same elements and shapes from the first painting but switched around. Working off a basic theme/concept but with a purely decorative intention is proving to be a challenge. The flowers will be on the vase, not in it. I wanted to keep the fan shapes from the tray and also the stripes. The fan shape has now become a Japanese paper fan, the stripes are on the 'wallpaper'. The cat has been stylized and will remain completely white. I borrowed the tea cup in the lower right corner from one of Shirley's pieces. Thanks, Shirley!

The Studio Cat ~ WIP 1

Sorry it's taken me so long to post an update. I wanted to take my sweet time deciding how to approach this style of painting. Tranferring a drawing to working paper would lose the spontaneity so I freehanded my sketch instead. Then I 'danced' around this for days, trying to choose a palette, etc. The trouble with this method is there comes a tipping point when one loses momentum and fear sets in. Fear is the death of creativity. I grabbed my new colors (in this case DS Quin. Burnt Scarlet, DS Prussian blue, DS Undersea Green and also a tube of Quin. gold) and dove in. I knew I could achieve a full range of values with these colors so I held my breath and took the plunge. Right away I saw it begin to tighten up on me. At that point it was time to walk away and regroup. Today I forged ahead with the cat and immediately thought I'd lost the painting. I took it off the easel and set it up in my living room against a shelf to get a long view and there it was...the painting I envisioned was underway! Why is it so hard to trust my instincts and let go of control?

Shirley Trevena in Action

For those that may be interested, Shirley has a few videos available on YouTube that are a must-see. I'm still working on a setup for my 'still life with cat'.

New Project, New Style?

For quite sometime I've admired the work of Shirley Trevena . Her style is colorful, expressive and delightfully/creatively free. She works a lot with watercolor but isn't afraid to mix it up a bit. I've spent the last few days studying her online gallery and I'm both inspired and challenged as a result. Last night I drew up a still life setting from imagination based on some of her works but today felt I should go through my photos and gather things that have meaning to me. I don't own gorgeous vases or have access to fresh flowers at the moment but I do have cats so they must be a part of my still life. I found a photo I took last Spring of Digby, my male cat catching some sun while I worked in my studio so I started a new sketch, using this image to begin.

Btw, don't pay any attention to that dirty window(photo) or the suncatcher that looks like a hubcap(sketch).