Cat 33

Cat 33.
Acrylic on Masonite. 12" x 12".
(Panini #1)

This is a commissioned piece, from a photo provided to me. I made numerous attempts was not pleased with any of them- I ended up sanding down all the boards except this one to use for something else and kept this version intact, in hopes of resolving it.
I did a lot of initial experimenting by building this up in washes, then applying the paint in puddles of water allowing the pigment to dry in granulated pools which made some interesting textures. Later I painted over that as it became too visually busy. Eventually I overworked the surface to the point of  no return and had to take some of it back off with sandpaper..
This was a case of the photo looking reasonable, but it did not translate well as a painting.
I find straight on frontal views extremely difficult to work with. The foreshortened angle of the cat and indistinct overhead lighting flattened the image.

I am really liking the window blinds in the back (aha! More stripes).  What I learned from this piece is that sometimes I am better off departing from the photo.