Tag: cat

Animals · paintings · portraits

New Paintings, New News!

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I feel bad for neglecting the blog for a little over a month! But I was waiting for my “big announcement.” And that is, I am now being represented by a fairly prestigious online gallery, UGallery. I learned that I was accepted to the gallery a few weeks ago, but it took a while to get everything set up and actually have my art go “live” on the site. I wanted to wait until it was all a done deal before announcing it.

They say that about 10-15% of artists who apply to UGallery get in, so I’m flattered to be among those accepted. But I must take into account that any gallery, anywhere, has an idea of what niches they want to fill, and so if they don’t accept every interested artist, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the rejected artists are “bad.”

My first day on the site was this past Thursday, and I was greeted on the main page with a graphic containing my cat paintings! Squee! Yes, I have no shame, I took a screenshot of it:

UGallery main page graphic. With my cat paintings! I thought that was cool.

To any fellow artists who may have questions about UGallery, I have only been with them for a short time, so I can’t say much yet. Other than they seem to be detail-oriented (that is a good thing), friendly, and attentive to artists. Continue reading “New Paintings, New News!” →

Animals

Big White Cat

J R Dunster2 Comments
"Big White Cat" 6x8" oil on canvas panel. Thanks to Farbenhexe of PaintMyPhoto.com for the reference photo!
“Big White Cat” 6×8″ oil on canvas panel. Thanks to Farbenhexe of PaintMyPhoto.com for the reference photo!

Words cannot express how much I loved painting this kitty! Big, proud, bodacious, this is some cat. A Mighty Fine cat. His whisker pads are something to behold. And look at the tufts of fur coming out from the tips of his ears! What a magnificent animal!

I enjoy painting white cats, or at least cats with significant acreage of white fur, because there’s so many colors to be found within. The white fur reflects the colors around the cat, and looking for the subtle shifts of color, changes from warm to cool, and attempting to capture that—it’s a lot of fun!

I used a Pintura Painting Panel for this painting. It’s touted as an archival panel, and has a very finely woven canvas. I enjoy the smoother texture for painting in this size.

Animals · paintings

Grey Kitty – 4×4″ cat head

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Grey Kitty Head, 4×4″ oil on panel. Thanks to WesternStock of DeviantArt for the stock photo used as reference.

This little grey kitty was spontaneously painted on a 4×4″ panel I had lying around. He has such clear eyes, such a sincere expression, what’s not to love?

The panel I used was primed with lead primer (don’t worry, it’s perfectly safe unless you start chewing on the edges!) which is especially wonderful to paint upon. The paint slides over the surface in a unique way that is just . . . so sublime. The primer I used was Holbein’s “Foundation” oil color, I believe the umber-tinted one. I love Holbein’s foundation line, which includes a white, a grey, a sage green, and a beige (tinted with umber).

I like painting on small panels sometimes because less is more, and usually it can be done (or almost done, in this case) in one sitting! It gives you a feeling of accomplishment to do a new painting almost every day, right?

Animals · paintings

Cat in the Grass, oil on panel

J R Dunster6 Comments
“Cat in the Grass,” 6×6″ oil on panel. Thanks to valeaves of dA for the stock photo!

This painting has been simmering on the backburner for about a month. I set it aside after doing the first stage, worked on some other paintings for a while, and finally decided to complete it.

The green background (grass and foliage) gave a green cast to the cat’s fur. Quite a challenge! Without the background color of grass green, the colors bouncing off the kitty would not make any sense! This is a beautiful tortoiseshell/calico kitty with clear, green eyes that reflect the green of the background.

The Brush.

This painting was the one that caused the damage to The Brush. I have a favorite paintbrush, entitled “The Brush” because it is THE go-to brush that I grab often during my painting. It was so loved, so relied on, so adored, that its beautiful handle snapped off in my hand as I was working on “Cat in the Grass.” There’s still enough of a handle left so I can continue to use it, but it’s also starting to show wear elsewhere. (I guess I am hard on The Brush. I do wash my brushes religiously, but I guess something about how I use The Brush is contributing to its gradual demise.)

The Brush is probably just a simple sable Bright (size 6) but I have bonded with this specific, particular brand of brush, so I’m afraid to deviate to any other type, because maybe it’s not quite like The Brush. My source for The Brush is The Italian Art store, their own label (which I’m sure is actually made by some other brush maker and stamped with The Italian Art Store’s name). So since I am hard on The Brush, I must order duplicate The Brushes, so I am never without a supply!

 

Animals · paintings

Big Green Eyes and Intense – Cat Heads

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“Big Green Eyes – Cat Head” 6×8″ oil on linen panel. Thanks to hiddenyume-stock for the photo I used as reference!
“Intense Kitty Head” 6×6″ oil on panel. Thanks to FurLined for the stock photo used as reference!

I’m doubling up on the cat heads for this post. Lots of cat head painting going on. I’ve been enjoying it very much!

While it might not be evident by looking at the paintings, I was trying a looser hand with both of these pieces. I often used a bigger brush through most of the painting process. One of my teachers, Adam Clague, imparts the wisdom to use a paintbrush that “seems too large,” because that’s just the right size. I think he’s on to something! 😉

Though I did get into the details a lot too (which I don’t think is necessarily bad) I think that “less is more” and I don’t want to paint every little molecule of detail. Some artists do that exceedingly well and beautifully, but it just isn’t the direction I’m heading in.

I also enjoyed capturing the various colors observed in these kitty heads. Who knew that a simple white ruff on a cat’s chest could contain so much color? It truly is amazing. I do so love painting these kitties!

Animals · paintings · portraits

Splotched Kitty Head, plus a Work in Progress

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“Splotchy Kitty Head” 5×5″ oil on Gessobord. Thanks to Nikkayla on DeviantArt for the stock photo I used as reference!

Another month, and some new works! Yes, there has been a lapse of paintings for this blog. It was a busy few weeks. But I’ve still been hard at work, painting!

This cat head painting was a particular challenge, because of all the . . . splotches. Our family calls calico/tortoiseshell kitties “splotched” kitties, because of all the multitude of colors. Well, actually my dad called these type of cats “multi-color.” We can’t just call them “calicos,” now can we? 😉

The challenge in this painting was representing the splotches on the surface of the cat, while still representing the form and dimension. I hope I succeeded in that. It certainly did make me think, as I painted!

In addition, here’s a work in progress painting. Hopefully it’ll be done in a day or two. Not much to say yet about this one, other than I’ve enjoyed the drama drama drama of the pose!

WORK IN PROGRESS. “Ivory Skin 2″ (temporary title), 12×12” oil on panel. Thanks to La Esmaralda Stock of DeviantArt for the reference photo used as inspiration.
Animals · paintings

Orange Kitty Head, oil on panel

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“Orange Kitty Head,” 5×5″ oil on textured panel. Thanks to Lumibear on dA for the stock photo used as inspiration!

Another cat head! A supremely orange kitty! Look at those blue eyes. Orange cats are so fun to paint. I love their coloring. Alas, this is not a portrait of my kitty, since my orange kitties (embarrassed to admit that I must use the plural of “orange kitty”) are grumpy or too pale. Oh, who am I kidding? I will paint my own orange kitties in due time. They must earn their keep, right?

This kitty is a mighty fine orange kitty, with beautiful markings and vibrant color. A joy to paint.

This is a 5×5″ oil sketch done on a nice type of textured gessoed panel. It has a “canvas-esque” type texture, but is just gesso (acrylic ground). The panel is thick-ish (I believe 3/8″ thick) with a dovetail slot in the back (which means you can hang it as-is, or you can stick it in a frame).