Cat 10

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

Cat 10.
Acrylic on Masonite. 12" x 12".

Lizzy crammed up against the window, wedged into the last patch of sun on a cold winter day.
This is very similar to Cat 8. I used the gray tones again, and pleased with the result. I like the looser approach in the background outside the window allowing the brush strokes to be brush strokes.

The composition has a nice curve happening with the line of the cats leg, continuing with the background out the window. This is the kind of subtlety that I am trying to learn how to recognize. Maybe it was noted subconsciously, but I wasn't really aware of the curve until later.

Cat 9

(Above: painting reworked a few years later)

Cat 9.
Acrylic on Masonite, 12" x 12".

In the cooler months, Lizzy goes through a phase of jumping onto the computer chair every time I vacate it, having figured out the chair seat will be warm. I ended up having to set up two chairs by the computer so we could each have a seat, and we constantly switch chairs when I get up to stretch or refill my coffee cup.

I was attracted to the strong light source and the curving shadows. I added her toy mouse for another hit of the intense ochre color, and add some interest. Adding the small toy created a visual color diagonal, added some scale, and some silly relief to an otherwise stogy pose. The cat has almost a cardboard cutout quality which may have been resolved by softening the top line across the back. The line is too hard edged for a soft, furry critter. Now I think I should have intensified the pink tone in her ears, taking them closer in hue to the ears on the toy.

Later on I was asked why I had not included this painting in a showing of the entire cat series, and I had to stop and think about that. The painting was no better or worse than the others; it simply did not meet my expectations at the time. Sometimes you start a painting with an expectation or a very clear destination, and sometimes it just evolves and heads off somewhere else with variable results. Maybe the mark of a good painter is one who can control and manipulate the outcome.

Cat 8

Cat 8.
Acrylic on Masonite, 12" x 12".

Lizzy in the sunny dining room window, on a cold winter day. There is a lack of color here in the northwest coast region during the winter. Outside, the world is shades of gray, with very little contrast. Gray sky, bare gray tree trunks and a perpetual fog layer that grays down the evergreens. It's a good thing I like gray.

I started this painting in all grays which served to get my focus more on light source and contrast, as this has been a bothersome point for me. Later I introduced some areas with more color.
I became very interested in the ears, and the way the light illuminates them through the thin structure. I like the limited color palette and the loose directional strokes that imply structure without getting detailed. The softer edges are much more successful in expressing the subject, and it retains some hard graphic elements. Interesting direction.

Cat 7

Cat 7, reworked a few years later. Made corrections to the forms, and changed the color schematics. New pallet used was ultramarine blue, cadmium red and yellow oxide.
The original entry is shown below:

Cat 7.
Acrylic on Masonite, 9" x 12".

Another try at the cat on the chair back. I lost my direction on this one and reworked it several times, ending up shifting into the blue tones. I was pleased with the tones in the white areas, the overall texture, and the warmer under painting showing through the cooler colors; but wish there was more overall  light and shadow continuity. This ended up a bit too pastel for my taste- I prefer more contrast.

The distortion of the facial features still bothers me, and wish I had paid more attention to the angle on the head and correct placement of the features.

Cat 6

Cat 6.
Acrylic on Masonite, 12" x 12".

Lizzy likes to park on the back of a stuffed chair next to a reading lamp, and probably likes the heat from the bulb. Pretend sunshine. She has a vulture-like stare stare when sitting on something high. An instinctive predator expression? She never seems to be looking at anything in particular.

This painting went through numerous revisions. The digital file I worked from was poor quality, but I really liked the sensuous forms and the light source from a floor lamp. I had major problems getting past the poor contrast in the source photo and still fiddling with it occasionally, trying to use my sensibilities and not adhere so strictly to the photo. I added the bookshelf because I think cats and books go together, and I needed some vertical uplift in this square format. I "drew" in some of the wet paint layers with the wrong end of the brush, and liked the vitality of texture. I intend to take that further, try incorporating more textural elements and move away from using only flat layers of color. Getting a harmonious blend will be an interesting challenge.

Cat 5

(Above: the same painting reworked years later...)

Cat 5.
Acrylic on Masonite, 8" x 12".

This is Lizzy on a striped comforter cover on the bed, giving me the "stink-eye".

Having run low on the supply of canvas paper, I rummaged and found some scrap 1/8 inch Masonite panels left over from a construction project and cut them down into smaller pieces to work with.

Working on a smooth surface with no "tooth" produced some different effects.I went with the smooth side, as the texture on the rough side looked a bit heavy, but I will need to try that surface as well.

I like this one. It surprises me that I got away with horizontal stripes in a horizontal picture. Maybe because the comforter stripes are broken with folds.

Cat 4

Cat 4.
Acrylic on canvas paper, 12" x 16".

I tried this painting again, using a more limited color palette and giving more thought to the laying out the initial drawing.
I clearly need to slow down and pay more attention to the basics before rushing in to play with the colors.

I like the more volumetric treatment of the cat, giving it some curves and sensuality. I overused the white and would have had a better result using more tone and restricting the white to smaller areas. I could have done more with the light hitting the stuffed chair for more interest and light source consistency.