Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Cat Portrait Demo, details, details, details!

More progress since last time!    I've been busy finishing commissions, which always come first for me,  so my apologies for the gap in time.  You must have wondered if I forgot all about our orange tiger tabby and his vintage chair!  Anyway ....First on the chair,  I put a new layer all over of muted turquoise, then of chocolate in the farther away spots to pull it back and start the process of drawing more attention to the star, our kitty cat!    And ... speaking of our star,  lots of work on him.   But back to the chair, I also began adding in the chipped away paint, exposing the dark wood underneath the turquoise paint job.  A few areas are hit by sunlight and I've left that, and fuzzed the edges on the chair as well.    Again, I don't want this portrait to be of a chair that happens to have a cat on it, but a cat that happens to be on a chair.  So, he's getting the lion's share of the detailing.

I started with drawing in his paw pads, adding the dark cast shadows under his head and bent back ear, and along his body and leg.  I am purposely making the back legs less detailed.

The whites are either reinforced, or darkened with a gray blue.

Next up, his face.  I am an early bird and need to take advantage of my early energy so that will have to wait til next time! 

Meanwhile, I also wanted to mention that I am in an unusual situation for me, I'm fresh out of commissions!  So I'm having a summer sale to get busy again!  If you've ever thought about purchasing a portrait from me, now is the time, and a perfect time to get a jump on Christmas shopping.  Use the coupon code "SummerPortraits" at checkout of any size custom portrait from my Etsy Portrait Shop for 25% off!  This offer only good til I get busy again, hopefully for just a week or so! 

Anyway, any questions or comments on my work in progress of the colored pencil cat?  Just ask! Robin


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