So many of my paintings recently have needed several days of work to complete I’m getting weary of the sustained effort they take. So I decided to do something I should have done sooner and give the Bromeliads a break today.
I had a desperate craving for a subject that could be completed in one sitting, something that would be fast and fleeting… and here it is. This is my friend, Annette’s, Ragdoll cat. She is beautiful and colourful and very good natured, but unlike many cats does NOT like to pose for the camera – the photo for this painting took both of us snapping away for half an hour while she pranced and rolled and showed us her back end.
I think it’s a fairly good likeness, although I don’t know whether Annette would recognise her- the eyes are a bit too intense, she’s actually a very gentle cat – but it achieved it’s purpose and gave me a break from painting leaves. It also reminded me how fast you have to work if you’re trying to paint the whole picture at once, as a result there are a few hard edges that weren’t meant to be! A great challenge though 🙂