Animals

Black Cat… All Done… Painting #300

| cathmary1030

This is my 300th painting, for better or worse, since I started painting in February 2023.

I’m only posting the final photo, as I spent a lot of time between my last Fresh Paint black cat post and this one painting interim colors that ended up getting covered up by the black that I had to repaint. Altogether too much layering, in my opinion. That might work for fluid acrylics, but it’s a waste with heavy body. We started out as a black cat, then went blue and red, then brown and purple, and then finally black again.

But, hey, to each their own in style. Live and learn. And I am learning it’s my style. (Though I think the instructor’s version looks totally cool.)

Black Cat… Halfway Done!

| cathmary1030

Yes, it’s another WIP from a Fresh Paint lesson (although I’m diverging from the color choices of the instructor to some degree.) For one thing, I went pack and painted over the Quinacridone Magenta with my Naphthol Red, as my magenta looked magenta pink, while the instructor’s video shows what to my eyes is plain ol’ red.

And I skipped the instructor’s Phthalo Blue/Quinacridone Magenta combo for my favorite Anthraquinone Blue (PB60) (which reads as a black-blue straight out of the tube).

“Black Labrador”… Based off a Fresh Paint Reference

| cathmary1030

I started this on a 9×12 canvas, and then my cat bit my right wrist — that’s my painting hand. Ten days of antibiotics got the swelling down, and I pretty much have most of my range of motion back, so I was able to finish this.

The painting is based off a reference photo on Ali Kay‘s Fresh Paint site, and I turned up the saturation on the photo to see colors other than black: dark blue, some deep violet, and some silvery gray.

The photo which looks bluer is actually truer to life, but I made the color more red today (Cadmium Red Hue by Golden) and the new photo looks more washed out.

Puppy At The Window

| cathmary1030

I painted this dog on the sofa based on a reference photo by Alyssa Fleischer, part of a January 2022 “painting party” at Acrylic University. It is also viewable on YouTube here.

This was painted on an 8×8 canvas panel. The dog was done in Titanium Buff (aka Unbleached Titanium (PW 6:1) and Burnt Umber. For the window panes I used the same — but added a touch of Mars Black. (I am going to go back and redo the panes, painting with a straight-edge 🙂

The greenery base was Chromium Green with some Ultramarine Blue, Titanium White, and Cad-free Yellow Light. The sofa I painted using Liquitex BASICS blue-gray and since it’s a “student” color, it darkened a whole lot after drying, but I think I’ll leave it as is.

Trying out ArtRage Vitae

| cathmary1030

I’ve never really considered digital painting before because I don’t have an iPad or an iPhone. Instead, I have an Android phone, and a Kindle Fire 10. However, one of my favorite artists on Instagram (Teddi Parker) has posted occasionally some work she’s done using ArtRage Vitae. So I decided to check it out — and to my surprise it’s available not only for Apple products, but Android and desktops (Windows, MacOS).

Okay, then. I bought it for $2.99 on Google Play and loaded it on both my phone (can’t see using it there, though!) and my tablet. Below is my first work.. a sketch of my cat, Simba, based on a photo I took of him some time back when he was on my lap. I saved it before I finished his long white whiskers (well, really I messed up with layering and had to start all over again.)

Not bad, for a first attempt. I used my finger, and am debating purchasing a stylus to see if that helps.

Big and Bold: Chickadee

| cathmary1030

This bird was painted on a 11×14 canvas which I toned with Blick Studio neutral gray — but I should have added at least one layer of gesso. (Cheap “pre-gessoed” canvases are less and less appealing to me.)

This is from another class on the Acrylic University website, originally shown to the public on YouTube for a brief period of time back in January 2022. The focus of the week’s classes was “Radiant Landscapes” and this class was about going big and bold with your brushstrokes to paint a chickadee.

There were 4 ways suggested to “go bold”: 1) limit yourself to 30 minutes painting (and that’s it, no going back later); 2) Limit yourself to a certain number of brushstrokes — say, 50, or 75; 3) use a large brush throughout; 4) paint with your non-dominant hand

I went with a larger brush than I typically use, and I had a lot of fun with this painting. It makes me happy to look at.