Cat w/Black & Orange

Completed. I've had the reference photo (Kenya M / PMP) for quite some time. Not sure why it took me so long to tackle it. When I first saw it I was struck by the palette and the graphics in the background. Consequently I've held fairly true to this reference. Although I'm happy with my results, since I've started working in a more graphic style, painting more realistic is much less satisfying. I am anxious to get back to my continuous line drawings, sketches (yes, you heard it correctly, the woman who said I'll never be a sketch artist) and the sheer thrill of creating something unique. I have a  wonderful idea for a new painting but I have to get permission to use some photos first. I managed to track down the photographers and a way to contact them. I've got fingers crossed they will respond back and give me the go ahead. Wish me luck!

Almost forgot...the Cat w/Black & Orange was painted with alcohol ink and acrylic paint on paper.

Daniel Smith Cobalt Teal & The New Black

I've just completed a commissioned painting, a four cat portrait for their human Mom's birthday. I took photos along the way and I've gotten permission from my client to post the WIP on my blog.

I want to give a shout out to Daniel Smith for their fabulous Quinacridones. I doubt I could've achieved the results I did without them. Quin. Burnt Orange is perfect for orange kitty fur and a few flourishes of Quin. Violet bump it up another notch. One of the cats was predominately grey and black so I went with Quin. Sienna and Indigo for my black mix. I normally use burnt sienna but no more. I was thrilled with the black the Quin. Sienna produced. Very clean and rich and it watered down to a nice neutral grey. But grey is still grey and it needs help. This is where the Cobalt Teal came into play. I had planned to use it in the background so I needed to work it into the cats somehow. I added a light glaze on the grey fur and wow! That grey came to life! It was one of those ah HA! moments I love. It never gets old. I'm happy, my client is happy...now I hope the birthday girl will be happy.

Lunch Rush at Chez Dumpsta ~ complete

Almost nine months in the making, it's finally done. Like giving birth, huh? Well, not even close but I'm certainly glad it's done and I'm pretty happy with the outcome. Again, it doesn't photograph well but I did my best with my photo editor. I gave it a final coat of gel gloss medium last night, then today I added some of the cat's whiskers with white gelly roll pen. One coat of Krylon gloss varnish spray this afternoon and it was ready for it's close up.

Reference photo courtesy of Margaret Wiles on PMP

Lunch Rush at Chez Dumpsta ~ WIP 2

I've been putzing away at this over the last several days and it still needs a lot of work. I thought I should post an update anyway. BTW, the camera absolutely hates this painting. It actually looks much better IRL which is a switch from my usual. I didn't like the look of the yellow/orange water soluble crayon so I removed it. I was surprised to see it stain areas of the painting. I'm glad I laid down a coat of gloss gel medium over the initial collage paper or it could've been worse.

I'm Back with a Work in Progress

This past April my COPD flared up which landed me in hospital for the better part of a week. This flare was a real doozy and it was August before I felt human again. During my recovery I found out I now have severe arthritis in my spine so pain management became an issue. Things are looking up at last and I think I've found my art groove once again.

I've decided to start out where I left off this past March ( has it really been 6 months?!) and finish up these kitties. So far this is collage, acrylic, gel medium and crayon on Yupo. I love working with collage on Yupo. No buckling which is a huge bonus. My current working title is 'Lunch Rush at Chez Dumpsta'.

Kitty Kocktail ~ drawing

This project may be beyond my expertise as a painter but I want to give it a go anyway. I've never painted a clear glass anything before but there's always a first time.

I met this adorable little kitten this past September at the hair salon I frequent. One of the hairdressers had rescued him and brought him to work because he needed to be feed every 1-2 hours around the clock. He was so tiny he fit in the palm of my hand and he was such a sweet kitten. The stylist that was caring for him had taken a photo of him in a wine glass and she showed it to me on her cellphone. I never forgot it so when I arrived for another hair appointment last week I asked permission to use the image for a painting. Thankfully she still had the photo and gladly she agreed. I know I've drawn this too small already and need to enlarge it. I'm not known for my steady hand so we'll see how well I do. I may have to paint this more than once to get it right.

Mama Luv

I just completed my latest cat painting and I'm pretty happy with it. Shame that my blues appear more red violet in places but I was happy to get a halfway decent photo at all today. It's so gloomy.

I saw Karina's image of a mother cat with her kitten on PMP and knew I had to paint it. Shy kitten, protective mother...a short story, if you will. It speaks to a part of the mother and child bond that exists in both the human world and the animal kingdom, but a very important part. To quote Stephen King, "There's no bitch on earth like a mother frightened for her kids.”
 

Little S-Kittles

The title popped into my head while I was finishing this painting and I think it works. It's been almost a month since I updated my blog so I thought I'd paint some kitties and post them. I have another feline painting ready to go, too.

I was inspired by a photo a friend posted on Facebook, Tracy Meadows. Tracy rescued a litter of kittens recently. He said he found them under his porch and the photo he posted was just too darn cute to pass up. I asked him if I could use it and he obliged. The actual kittens are all a smoky grey so I decided to take a lot of liberty with my palette. And this is my favorite palette....golds and violets. I used DS Quin deep gold, DS Quin Burnt scarlet, DS Quin sienna, DS Carbazole Violet and DS Quin Violet. With these colors I can go just as vibrant or neutral as I want with no mud making involved. Hope you like. 

Crabby Cat is Back

Scary enough?

The first two Crabby Cats

After several inking failures I've been having myself a pout...a regular crabby cat, if you will. What better way to break the gridlock than creating another Crabby Cat. Since Halloween is the next holiday I've been doodling up an idea for the occasion. Just a sketch so far. Thoughts anyone?

Clowder of Cats ~ composition

I'm currently working on the comp for a new painting. I'm doing it with my usual storyboard technique. Seems there are a few issues to work out such as certain subjects 'kissing'(meaning: barely touching) that don't work for me. I do like the loose, diagonal 'S' flow, though.

What's that sound?!

Another pair of alcohol ink cats on Yupo. I added some metallic copper this time. The metallic additives don't move and flow like the regular inks but can create some nice effects.

Soft Pastel on Yupo ~ lounging cats

I just completed this one and scanned it. Colors are a little off as usual but it's close. This was done with SMI soft pastel on Yupo. A coating of the blending solution or alcohol ink will accept and hold the pastel. Another fine spray of blending solution will seal the pastel to the surface. I had no reference and didn't bother with a pre-drawing. I used a small, inexpensive brush dipped in rubbing alcohol to push the pastel where I wanted it to go.

Why bother with this? Because I do enjoy working with pastel once in awhile but hate the prices for custom frames with real glass. My only other option would be to buy a pane of glass and pay to have it cut to order. Not going to happen. I'm going to watch this piece to see if the pastel does indeed stay sealed and doesn't flake off eventually. If it doesn't I will probably move ahead and any paintings I create in this way will be framed with Plexi.

8/4/12 ~ I tweaked this today to sort out the awkward position of the cat in the foreground. I'm not sure I completely accomplished my mission but I think overall it reads a little better. I also added whiskers on two of the cats with a white Ziggy pen. Cats need whiskers or they just look weird, IMO. I wanted to mention that misting soft pastel with the blending solution will alter the colors. I didn't mind the blue shifting hue but I was losing the yellow. It became muddy and greenish. This time I didn't spray the yellow and it seems to be hanging on just fine. It isn't sealed to the surface but is staying in place.    

Wild Plum ~ alcohol ink

SOLD

Wild Plum is one of the newer Tim Holtz colors and it is very potent and also, as I've discovered, extremely hard to scan or photograph. I've spent the last 1/2 hour working with this image in my photo editor, trying to tone down the Wild Plum background without losing the other colors. This is the best I could do although it looks much better IRL...trust me. I'm making a mental note to go easy with the Wild Plum next time. It's a gorgeous, vibrant color but a little goes a very long way.

I did add some pearl mixative with this color and made a sample swatch some time ago. The pearl seems to quiet it somewhat.

Making Friends ~ completed

I managed to lower the 'heat' by removing some of the ink. I dropped in some Pool, a very cool blue. It's a potent color so I tried not to over-do it. A shadow was created beneath the center cat for a horizontal element in an otherwise diagonal composition.

I made a few corrections and additions. The painting was much too 'hot', the red/orange too intense so I lifted some of the color between the cats in the foreground with a small amount of rubbing alcohol on a paper towel. I did this not only for esthetics but also to highlight the 'exchange' between these two animals. The little onlooker in the background is for composition sake. I guess this cat decided to hang back and watch the goings on.

Having my own cats and watching their behavior when another, strange cat approaches I think I've succeeded in recreating the posturing that takes place. Cats are very territorial and are slow to accept another cat on their turf. They're very selective when making new friends. The 'new' cat usually approaches cautiously with a curious, slightly submissive attitude if it's interested in joining the group. I've been witness to various outcomes of these exchanges...some good, some not so much.

I added this image to my Imagekind Gallery. It looks amazing on canvas so I hope you will stop by and check it out: http://www.imagekind.com/Making-Friends_art?IMID=b7ccce70-9ce3-4ff3-a237-6eefbd11deb4

Donny ~ Complete

SOLD

Better photo, colors/values more true to life. Donny has also been slightly revised. Marcia told me the dark area on the left side of his face by his whiskers was more than likely a tear stain, common in Persians because of their tear duct issues and particularly apparent on the white haired of the breed.

I just completed Donny. I added a little soft pastel to his body fur and white gouache to his tail to give it that feathery fur look. I used primarily DS Moonglow, DS Indigo and warm sepia throughout the painting. The only exceptions were a bit of cerulean blue and FUB for his eyes and permanent rose for his tongue and one ear. I'm very pleased I went with the pedestal. Donny has a habit of perching on top of hampers, trash bins, etc. The Greek pedestal will bring him up in the world in other ways.


I created a panorama of Marcia's three furbabies so I could see what they will look like hanging together. Umm...not bad. Donny does stand out, though!

Donny ~ WIP 1

Quick update. Apologies for the weird angle. I took the shot while the painting was still on the easel. I really love the Greek pedestal. Donny is lookin' pretty darn regal sitting there. Maybe Marcia will have to change his name from Donny to Adonis? Sorry..I couldn't resist.

Donny ~ Sketch

Donny is one of three cats belonging to Marcia Van Osten who is another crazy cat lover like myself. He's a beautiful all white Persian with incredible blue eyes but like many white haired, blue-eyed cats Donny is deaf. It's an unfortunate but not uncommon genetic issue that many of these cats share. He lost his litter mate and best buddy, Marie to illness a few years ago and has since become Marcia's constant ankle hugger, bedmate, etc.

Marcia has been kind enough to let me use one of her many photos of Donny as reference. I chose a great shot of him perched atop his cat condo. He looks for all the world like he's sitting on a pedestal so I thought I would give Donny a proper pedestal. The detail work is patterned after the Greek Ionic style and I think it suits him purrfectly.

Rudy~Complete

SOLD

I think Rudy is finally done. I may do some minor tweaking but I'm pretty happy with the results at this point. I kept to my original palette with the addition of some Crimson Lake for the mouse's ear and nose. I may give him some whiskers, too. Not sure yet. I did wind up softening the edges of the cat's fur and tail with a little white soft pastel.

Note: Tweaks have been completed and the first image has been replaced by the final. I decided not to add whiskers to the mouse. Rudy had enough for both and I felt they would be distracting.

Rudy~WIP 2

Quick update on my progress. Rendering Rudy's fur has been a challenge and I'm not satisfied with my results yet. Phoebe practically painted herself (love when that happens) but Rudy's coloration is far trickier. I haven't even started on his tail or touched the mouse tucked within it. I will continue to work away and may even add some soft pastel at some point to achieve the look of his soft fur. I will say this looks better IRL than on screen. For some unknown reason poor Rudy looks like he's been shot out of a cannon in the above image but no matter how I photographed this painting it always came out looking the same way.

Rudy~WIP

I've just started painting Rudy, a Himalayan cat owned by Marcia Van Osten. Rudy is the litter mate of Phoebe , the subject of my painting titled 'Contemplation'. Marcia has given me permission to use her photos of Rudy for reference plus I'm also working from a description she sent me via Facebook regarding his coloring. Himalayan cats have coloring remarkably similar to Siamese cats, IMO. Incredible blue eyes and that deep coffee brown on their faces and ears. I'm hoping against hope I'm close to the real deal as far as eye and fur coloration. Time and Marcia will tell. My palette for the eyes is Cobalt blue deep and Cerulean, the fur is a mixture of Indigo, Raw Umber with a bit of DS Moonglow thrown in. I gave Rudy a mouse, too. Phoebe has one so I thought it only fair.;)