Black Cat Time of Year

I don't know about you but we're beginning to see lots of spider webs, a few falling leaves and some signs that fall is nearly here in spite of our 90 degree temperatures.  It's still a little while before Halloween but I thought a black cat might be appropriate right about now.

This is Leonie and she seemed very appropriate for the season even though she isn't solid black.  She was painted in gouache on Arches rough 140# paper.

Black Cat - OSWOA

"Black Cat"
watercolor
copyright
Jan Gibson

I've been hearing a lot lately about OSWOA's (Original Small Works of Art) and wanted to try one. Actually, the Japanese Magnolia that I posted a couple of days ago is an OSWOA but that was sort of an experiment. This painting was intentionally painted as an OSWOA and I was determined to paint it to the best of my ability.

One of the specifications for an OSWOA is the size - 4 inches by 6 inches. As a matter of fact, that's about the only specification other than the work has to be original - no copies or prints except for some very stringent rules for prints.

It's the size that I want to comment on though. Four inches by six inches is pretty small and therefore very hard to achieve much detail on them. I've done a few ATC's (Artists Trading Cards when traded with other artists) or ACEO's (Art Cards Editions and Originals when sold as original artwork to the general puplic) and it's extremely difficult. ATC/ACEO cards are even smaller than the OSWOA's at only 2.5 X3.5 inches and it's very hard to do them with the mediums I use. I thought the OSWOA's would be a little easier but it's still difficult to get a brush or a fat pastel pencil into such a small space and come away with something recognizable! Not only are the brushes/pencils almost too large for detail, but your hand is always in the way so you can't really see what you're painting!

So, I was pretty pleased with the outcome of the cat painting above. I belong to a group of patrons of my favorite pet store who get together once a month or so and this month we're having a small gift exchange. This kitty will be my gift for this occasion. I hope whoever gets it likes it and isn't disappointed at all. The plan is to put all the gifts (wrapped) into a large container and let everyone draw one out. So, no one knows who will get what gift. I debated about painting a cat. I know about the dogs everyone has, but somehow, the cats don't get as much discussion time. I didn't want to paint a dog as most everyone has a rescue dog or two who certainly aren't purebred and it would be almost impossible to please someone with a dog breed painting. And, not knowing who would receive my gift also made it hard to paint a specific animal. I actually wanted to paint a wild animal but figured I'd be safer painting a cat. We'll see if I change my mind and paint something else before the exchange! lol

But this cat photo spoke to me plus I wanted to try a black animal again to see if I could give it enough life to make it interesting. I'll let you decide if that's been accomplished!

It's a Cat - I'm a Chicken

Well, this is Miracle and I apologize for not sharing the steps I took to get here but I just got to painting and didn't stop to scan or take photos. In every photo I've seen of this cat, he looks like a stuffed animal with Little Orphan Annie eyes so I guess I've done ok with him. I wish I had seen him in person but don't know that that would have done any good either. All of his features are somewhat of a guess and I see a couple of things to tweak but overall, this looks very much like the photos I have of him. I'm calling him finished unless I get more photos that show him a little better.

I love black cats and don't think they're unlucky at all unless it's unlucky for them to have been born black. I know shelters have a hard time adopting out black animals period and I don't know why. It could be that they suffer more in our Southern summer heat and humidity but I don't think that would matter to an indoor animal. I'm really partial to black animals and have two black Lab mixes. If I could have a cat, it also would be black. If you would like to adopt an animal from your local shelter, please give the blacks ones your attention first.

"Miracle"
copyright
Jan Gibson

Follow Along - a Miracle WIP

I'm painting a portrait of a solid black cat in watercolors. The photo references all show the cat as a solid black mass with flashed yellow eyes. The cats name is Miracle and it will indeed be a miracle if I can pull off this one! I decided to post my work in progress (WIP) here so I'll be encouraged to keep going with it!

Here's the first post - (it's more than the basic first sketch as I didn't decide to do a WIP until I'd already gotten this far.)

Miracle WIP !

My paper (Arches 140# Rough) has been taped down with painter's tape mostly to keep a clean edge but also to help with buckling. I'm using various brands of artist's quality watercolor paint. The eyes won't stay the way they are now as I'm using a yellow underpainting. The violet/lavender colors are also areas of shading that I picked up by using my photo program to brighten the photos enough to get the barest hint of detail.

OK, this may take a while so don't give up on me! I'm just feeling my way along here & may even have to do some backtracking!

Until next time ----------------