This week The Cat went from this:
… to this.
Photoshop and the tracing projector for the iPhone have destroyed any faith in my drawing skills. (I have to buy a new projector for the new incompatible iPhone. This was done with old-school carbon paper.)
I admit the freehand version has more character. I am going to keep it off to the side and use it as the basis for version two because it seems all portraits of loved ones require two versions to get it right.
I thought I would use a palette knife instead of a brush so things don’t get overworked despite my best efforts.
8 responses to “Weekly Paint Progress; 8/15”
Good luck! I’d expect a black cat to take three tries (at least) given other peoples’ struggles with depicting black, not-terrifically-shiny fur, but you may yet again surprise me…
KC – I didn’t have much success using the Apple photo adjustments to increase the contrast, but I must give Photoshop another try.
I hope it helps out! Good luck!
(I assume there is no decent “10 tips for how to paint portraits of black cats” tutorial out there? I have seen interesting things done with reflected lighting on shiny-haired black dogs, to give them more dimensionality, but no clue what you do with soft-furred cats…)
KC – Actually there was a Facebook image of a painting that had so much depth that I wanted to paint a black cat. I’d link to it but it only seems to be on Facebook and Instagram. If you search Juan Ruiz black cat bloody finger I bet you’d find it.
… that is AMAZING. Can you figure out what the artist did, do you think?
KC – uh … had skills I do not? But, he used a bigger brush with more confidence and that’s what I hop to do with the palette knife. I’ve only used it on one other painting (of Spunky) and it worked well.
I meant more on the “how on earth did he figure out which color to use on which “facet” of the cat so it looks 3D” but yes, also, fair.
I hope the palette knife works out! and if not: you can try, try again, because look, black cats really *are* hard to paint, that one example notwithstanding.
KC – Now I am really excited. It sounds like painting a glass vase.