Cat 55

(Above- the painting reworked a few years later... )

Cat 55, Oscar in the corner
Acrylic on canvas. 14" x 11".

While visiting with my mother the other day, Oscar wandered into the room, parked himself in a corner, and made a big production of grooming while peering at us from a safe distance. He never looks directly at anyone- just stares at an invisible point slightly to the side or through you. Maybe he has a vision problem. More likely he is not comfortable making direct eye contact with these relative strangers invading his space.

I liked the twisting angle of his body against the straight lines of the walls and floor. Getting the odd angles of his torso to read correctly was a challenge, and I ended up having to reposition the size, angle and details of the head several times and make subsequent adjustments to the surrounding torso before it looked plausible to me.
In retrospect, I wish I had pulled back and allowed more room for the walls and floor to emphasize the empty, personal space around him. I'm still not sure that I like the saturated yellow wall, but when I cover it up the painting goes a bit flat for me.