Tag: pet portrait

Animals · paintings

“Biter of Hands” & some “questionable” choices

J R DunsterLeave a comment
“Biter of Hands,” 5×5″ oil on canvas panel.

I haven’t been updating my blog in a while, but here I am! As you can see, I’ve made some big changes—moved my blog from my main domain (jdunster.com) to this wordpress-hosted site (jrdunster.com). I just got sick of troubleshooting wordpress problems and resolving issues and incompatibilities with my web host. Let WordPress themselves do all the heavy lifting!

So here is a small oil painting of one of my cats, “Minus” (or also known as “Void” because sometimes she seems a little “void” between her ears). She does sometimes bite hands. Very affectionate cat, but sometimes gets overexcited and then…bites.

There is also some news (see reference to “questionable choices” in this post’s title) about…kittens. Yes, I have some new models for my cat paintings.

The neighbors couldn’t keep these kittens and we just couldn’t fathom the idea of leaving them to their fate, so now we have kittens. They’re all adorable, very loving, purr constantly, and are very naughty. (They wouldn’t be normal kittens if they weren’t naughty!)

I’ve already got a few good photos ready to use as painting reference. They’re utterly precious.

Animals · Misc. Stuff · paintings

Two new cat head paintings, long and rambling updates

J R Dunster5 Comments

It’s been a very long time since I’ve posted to this blog, and there’s a good reason for that (which I’ll get to later in this post). Forgive me as this will be long and rambling!

NEW PAINTINGS

First, I want to share two of my latest cat head paintings:

Black and White and Fluffy (#2) 5×7″ oil on oil primed panel. I used a reference photo by a photographer on the “Paint My Photo” community.

 

Perky Young Orange Kitty, 6×8″ on canvas panel.

Continue reading “Two new cat head paintings, long and rambling updates” →

Animals · Misc. Stuff · Tutorials

Behold a Pale Orange Cat & super-mini studio setup

J R Dunster4 Comments

I’ve got a few new cat head paintings to post, but first, the latest news:

“Pale Orange Cat,” 5″ x 7″ oil on Pintura Painting Panel

Another painting completed tonight! This time, I finished this little painting at a most unusual working space: my computer desk!

As I mentioned in a previous post, these are desperate times for me (studio-wise) because now I am fulfilling my duties as a part-time caregiver for a family member. Gone are the days when I can gallivant away to my lovely studio and paint until the wee hours. I must stay homebound and be a caregiver. (And that’s okay. It’s family, after all!) I finally developed a workaround (a small studio area) to allow me to work in a very cramped space, but tonight, I decided to go even smaller.

I hope that my situation (and my solution for it) might be useful for other artists out there. Surely I’m not the only one who is dealing with a desperate need to paint, but only with cramped spaces available to work!

My very small
My very small “studio area.”

I did my painting on a computer table. Not even a “real” computer table, just some table that I’ve been using for my 20″ iMac.  Continue reading “Behold a Pale Orange Cat & super-mini studio setup” →

Animals · paintings · Tutorials · Tutorials

Working with a tablet; FABULOUSLY ORANGE cat head

J R DunsterLeave a comment

Using a Kindle Fire tablet for drawing reference (Work in Progress pencil sketch). Click on picture to see larger version. (Reference photo is from posespace.com.)

I thought I’d write a little bit about a common tool used by artists: A digital tablet.

Many artists report that tablets are superior for displaying reference photos. Tablets are not limited by the resolution of a print on paper. You can zoom in on an image to see far more detail. The colors are often more accurate and with a wider range. Continue reading “Working with a tablet; FABULOUSLY ORANGE cat head” →

Animals · drawings · paintings

Back again, Back again, Happy New Year!

J R Dunster2 Comments

“Fluffy Tuxedo Kitty” 6×6″ oil on cradled panel.

After a regrettably long hiatus, I am back with a new cat head painting! And for the New Year!

Circumstances in life prevented me from getting into my studio to paint for the past several months. I tried to compensate for that by doing some drawings at home. (More on that later.) But now I am back, and am working on some new paintings! This little cat head is the first to be completed. I especially was trying to capture the fluffiness of this kitty with soft brush strokes and lost edges. Also, warm and cool temperatures were used to show depth (I hope).

With this painting I also attempted to go looser! It was fun!

Words cannot express how much I missed painting, and how WONDERFUL it felt to be back to it!

But, I did do some fun pencil work, and below is my latest piece. It probably needs some more tweaking. It’s simple graphite pencil (0.05mm mechanical pencil, HB lead) on smooth paper.

“Untitled” (so far), pencil on paper, approximately 6×7″. Probably still needs some tweaks.

I’m a BIIIIIG fan of crosshatching. Continue reading “Back again, Back again, Happy New Year!” →

Animals · paintings · portraits

Warm & Cool, plus Close-up Cat head

J R DunsterLeave a comment

“Warm & Cool,” 14×14″ oil on cradled panel.

(This painting was a recent award-winner! I ramble more about that in a previous post. This work got 1st place in the Oil category at a local art show.)

“Close-up” (Cat Head), 4×4″ oil on panel.

A mini 4×4 inch cat head!

Okay, I’ve got a lot to cover in this post, no time to waste! Continue reading “Warm & Cool, plus Close-up Cat head” →