Maine Coon Cat on Colourfix

I've been working on this maine coon cat in between other things which is why it's going so slowly.
It's approximately 16 x 12 inches on colourfix paper.
I've been using an under painting in watercolour and then adding detail in coloured pencil using the same method that I did with the spaniel but I'm finding it a very different experience to working on watercolour paper.
I thought it might be useful to compare my findings using the colourfix against using a hot press watercolour paper.

Pro's

• The coloured paper provides a midtone which means fewer layers are needed to create the fur.
• Little work is needed to create a subtle background.
• White fur shows up against the darker paper.

Con's

• Both the watercolour and the coloured pencil sink into the colourfix requiring constant touching up.
• The rough surface of the paper eats the pencils and destroys brushes, it is advisable to only use old brushes.

I can get fine detail on both surfaces so that isn't an issue.

On balance I think I prefer working on watercolour paper so it will be back to the Arches hot pressed paper for my next work.

Back to Black - Black Cat Mixed Media Painting

'Back to Black'

Image Size 12 x 17 inches, mixed media on board.

SOLD

Following the success of my painting Black on Black which was sold at the Society of Feline Artists exhibition early this year I have painted a matching image.
I used coloured pencil and acrylic on mountboard making the eyes the focal point.

Persian Kitten Part 2

Very slooow progress.

I have a pair of Bluetits going in and out of my new nest box ( at least I assume it's a pair).

If they do rear a brood the baby birds will be sitting in comfort because the adults are lining the box with dog hair. Roma has decided to cast her coat so I've been putting handfulls of soft undercoat in the hedges for the birds. It seems to be popular because it soon gets taken. Roma makes sure there is plenty to go round, she helpfully leaves huge amounts all over the carpets which manages to spread everywhere.

Two Ragdoll Kittens in Coloured Pencil and Acrylic

'Cuddled Up'

To bid click here

This is 6 x 4 inches, coloured pencil and acrylic on cream stonehenge paper.

I need to decide what I'm going to submit for the Society of Feline Artists exhibition this year. I've never painted Ragdoll cats before( I did start one on pastelbord but it remains a work in progress) and I have a nice image I want to use, so I decided to do a small piece to work out the colours.

I used a piece of cream Stonehenge paper that I'd been sent to try. I'm not a big fan of Stonehenge as I find it a little bit too soft but this time I really enjoyed using it. I did quite a lot of blending with French Grey and Peach Beige Prismacolor pencils and the paper behaved perfectly. I also added acrylic highlights and again found the paper worked well. I was going to do the full size piece on Arches watercolour paper but I think I might use the Stonehenge again.

Grey and White Cat in mixed Media

'Summer's End'

an ACEO by Gayle (2.5 x 3.5 inches)
To bid click here.

I decided to create another aceo today, I like to use this small format to try out ideas for future larger pieces.

Pastel Cat Complete.

I made my deadline and hopefully the pastel of Poppy which I've called 'Guilty' will arrive at the Llewellyn Alexander Gallery in London tomorrow.
It was collected by the couriers yesterday and together with three more paintings will be included in the 2010 Society of Feline Artists exhibition.

I did a bit of tweaking with the background and removed a couple of the flowers which I decided didn't add anything to the overall impression.

Pastel Cat - Part 2

A couple of people asked if I'd post progress shots, so here's Poppy after todays work.

The colours aren't quite right as I had to take a photograph using a flash. The light is terrible here in Yorkshire as we're in the middle of a deluge. I have never, ever seen it rain as hard as it has been doing on and off over the last few hours.

Apart from Clinton and Roxie the dogs have point blank refused to go outside. Trying to encourage them to go outside I ended up standing in the dog run in the rain while they watched from the Conservatory door refusing to even put a paw out the door.

Macro Cat Finished

One down, two to go.
This is the first of a pair of macro cats for the 2010 Society of Feline Artists Exhibition in London.
It,s coloured pencil with acrylic washes to soften the pencil marks and the actual image is approximately 10 x 8 inches.

Endings and a Macro Cat

One of the things I want to do before my last day at work is to finish off all my work in progress. That way when we get to the first of April I can have a new beginning.
Some of you might remember this cat from the NEC last November, I hadn't done any more with it until this week, now it's almost finished.
It's approximately 10 x 8 ins, coloured pencil with acrylic washes on Arches paper and will hopefully be going to the SOFA exhibition in September.
Now I'm going to work, my very last Friday!

Background Change on Maine Coon

While I had the oil pastels out I painted a Maine Coon cat using both oil pastels and acrylics. I used a grey mountboard to work on and didn't add a background.


However after revisiting the image I decided the colour of the background didn't add anything at all, in fact I decided it was detracting from the cat. So gave it a blended oil pastel background.


Here are the before and after versions, I've also changed the crop on the final version although I'm still undecided on that.

Silver Tabby Cat in Oil Pastel 2

Sold

I really enjoyed working with oil pastels and the first cat proved to be a hit so I've painted a second one.

This is also 4 x 6 on Duck Egg Blue Ingres mountboard.

I've added some Caran 'Ache Neopastels to my set of Sennelier ones. These have a really nice range of grey and brown and are slightly harder than the Senneliers which are really soft. I found it easier to create a sharper line although the whole effect is softer than my usual coloured pencils or acrylic.

Winter Tabby ACEO

To bid click here

No snow here in Yorkshire but it's cold and frosty so I thought I'd try a seasonal ACEO.
This is mixed media on Arches paper.

Ragdoll Cat in Watercolour

This is a bit bigger than my recent work, 8 x 10 in watercolour on Arches paper.

I took the photograph at last years Supreme Cat Show. It is a Ragdoll and I think it's coat colour is Tortie Tabby, please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Another Tabby Kitten in watercolour and coloured pencil

This is to be my final feline picture for the Society of Feline Artists 2009 exhibition. It is the same kitten as last time but in a different pose.
I only really have tomorrow to finish this one and the other watercolour portrait because I'm working next week until the courier collects them on Thursday.

Watercolour Cat Continued

I'm still enjoying the watercolour and still hoping to get this done in time for the SOFA exhibition.
For the third year running one of my paintings has been included in the SOFA brochure, this year it's 'Moody Blue'. My friend Katherine has gone one better and had her painting included on the front page.
Here's the link to the post Katherine wrote about the 2009 SOFA exhibition.
"Meet the Kittens" on the SOFA front cover

Christie's on the iPhone

We bought my younger son an iPhone for his birthday in the hope that he'll keep in touch when he starts studying medicine in London later this year.

I knew he had a lot of applications on it and have been quite impressed with one or two of them.

Last night he showed me that Christie's Auction House now have a free application available.

It's pretty amazing as it features catalogues with high quality images. I looked at several pieces of artwork and was able to rotate them and zoom in without losing detail. It also gives an estimate of what the piece is likely to bring at auction.

Eventually they hope you will be able to bid at auction using the phone.

Link:- Christie's iPhone Application

Watercolour Tabby Cat Continued

I'm finding that using watercolour is adding a softness to my fur, probably because the strokes are less defined.

Another Miniature Cat on Hahnemuhle Paper

To bid on this cat click here.

I've finished another ACEO size cat.

This time I used Hahnemuhle Hot Pressed watercolour paper, I'm not sure if I will use it again or not.

The advantages were:-

It is a white paper, whiter than Arches which I usually usually use

The acrylic went on smoothly

The disadvantages for my technique were:

I found it to be quite textured for a hot press paper, this affected how I drew my fur

If I had a sharp point on my pencil it lifted the fibres in the paper meaning I couldn't achieve a smooth finish

I adapted how I worked, using more acrylic and less pencil which helped. I also used a slightly blunt pencil and blended my layers using a very light touch.

I'm pleased with the final result but it was a lot more work to achieve the finish I wanted

Another Watercolour Cat finished

Worked on this one last night and finished him. I'm moving on to a different subject now, will it be a fox or an owl? it really should be the mallard.

All my dogs have decided to shed their coats which means an extremely hairy house and no shows, unless I enter them in the Smooth rather than Rough Collie classes. This is rather disappointing because I enjoy the summer shows. We could still go without the dogs but I always feel wrong without at least one dog.

Another Watercolour Cat

I'm getting ready to do a larger work in watercolour but decided to do another small one first.

Again this is 2.5 x 3.5 inches. I have to say that the more I use the watercolour the less I'm reaching to add something else to the mix.