Splendour

Splendour. Oil on panel, 6" x 6". ©2019.

This photo of Mocha has been calling to me for a while, but somehow kept getting put off. Either I had just painted a cat, I had a commission to do, or someone had requested goats. Anyway, yesterday was the day. It was a fun painting to make, save for the self-inflicted stress of recording it in time lapse. The time-lapse process is oddly addictive. My heart races when I start the painting, all self-conscious and trying to be aware of where I'm standing. Maybe that rush has something to do with the addictiveness, but it's mostly the opportunity to watch the process from afar. The speed of the playback takes away the insecurity and mistakes and frustrations, making the progression seem almost magical. (See the video here.)

The title refers primarily to the magnificence and placement of my dorky cat. However, some research into the origin and of the Wordsworth's phrase "splendour in the grass" revealed unexpected appropriateness. Long story short, it's about finding beauty and meaning in ordinary things when we might otherwise be bitter and grieving. Pretty fitting and inspirational, but for now I'm going to have to settle for a bit of both.

Oliver Noir

Oliver Noir. Oil on panel, 6" x 6". ©2019.

Oliver the tabby makes a much more engaging painting subject than one might expect. He is a garden variety grey-brown tabby with a lopsided white mustache (see above). However, he has a few qualities that make him a blast to tackle in a quick oil study: his dramatically slanted eyes that never look the same color twice, and his natural aptitude for striking a pose.

He even has a knack for picking a good background (or lack thereof).

Another thing that added to the excitement of making this painting was the time lapse capture going on slightly behind the easel. No pressure there at all! Time lapse painting videos have always been a personal favorite, so inevitably I started making them. It has an interesting side effect of fresher paintings. This is probably due to either feeling rushed, or just wanting to get done so I can look at the video. So far it's a good thing.

Here's a look at Oliver Noir in process:

Wildling

Wildling. Oil on panel, 6" x 6". ©2019.

This young gentleman appeared one day in the yard of the studio. He was maybe five or six months old and very friendly. He let me pick him up, which was how I got him to be still enough for me to take his photo. I love how he looks like a wild baby panther.

I had never seen him before, and have not seen him since. I hope he's doing all right out in the world.

Nasty Woman

Nasty Woman. Oil on panel, 6" x 6". ©2019.

Lily the Studio Cat is a very sweet girl when she's not an absolute raging bitch. She's one of those psycho kitties that can't get enough snuggles and attention until she randomly decides to hiss and claw you.

Last week when I brought a gentle, cat-friendly dog by the studio, Lily invented a move I like to call the Flying Halloween Sixteen Claw Ricochet. She somehow, while holding that classic arched-back Halloween-kitty pose, managed to fly at the dog, claws bared, and make contact with all four feet before bouncing off and tearing across the porch.

Anyway, I'm quite happy with this painting because it says all there is to say about Lily's personality.

Oliver

Oliver. Oil on panel, 6" x 6". ©2019.

Oliver very much wanted outside yesterday, which gave me an excellent opportunity to photograph him in dramatic light. He sat in the dark entryway looking out the all-glass storm door, very intent and still. I love the way the sun caught his eyes and ear, and how his whiskers contrasted with the dark wall behind him.

This is my first-ever painting of Oliver, and my first time using an app that grids off photos on the iPad. The grid made the drawing process much more pleasant! Working from photos has gotten so much better in the years I've been painting. From the luck of the draw getting reference photos printed, to printing them at home, often multiple times (using expensive inks!) to get the colors right, to just cropping and gridding them off on an iPad. I could probably take them with the iPad and save another step, but the phone is a bit easier to manage (and still more convenient than a camera).

Mocha

Mocha. Oil on panel, 6" x 6". ©2019.

Yes, he is real. This is my really, really, ridiculously good looking cat, Mocha. It's only the second time I have painted him, which in retrospect seems weird.

He's all fluff, so concentrating on his face seemed like the way to go. At first, I was frustrated with the whiskers, but I started to like the messy look of them—much like Mocha's whiskers IRL.

He has his own Instagram account, although he's pretty lazy about posting to it.