Ari Cat from Life day 16 of 30 in 30

Bedhead! Ari from life

W&N watercolour markers on Moleskine WC journal

After three days so sick I couldn't manage a thumbnail sketch, I headed right into my comfort zone. If I get a couple of good days I still might catch up and have 30 paintings in 30 days. I won't give up till the last day. But today I'm accepting the possibility that it may not be a full win, just a lot of good paintings and more than if I hadn't signed up for it. 

It'd be nice if I could get in a second one today but I won't feel bad if I don't.

Ari cat really is that long when he decides to stretch out as long as possible and as flat as possible. He's not fat, he's just going on 15 years old and has loose skin. If I got down on the floor to get a look at him from the side with my camera, you'd see how flat he was. Maybe 2" thick across the whole and a lot of that is fur. Cats are very strange in their build. The way to tell if a cat's fat is to look down at it or look at it from behind. A healthy one is fairly narrow across. A fat cat will have a bulge in the middle and a wide rear end. Not turn into a carpet with cat parts sticking out at the edges.

These markers are a delight and every time I paint with them I'm getting stronger at exactly what kinds of marks wash out best. The process is different but the results are wonderful and most of all fast! I love being able to paint that swift with confidence and get a good result. If I don't like it I can do it again, that's how I feel about the markers. Go through more paper and don't fuss over getting it perfect. My cat didn't groom himself before posing either.

EDIT: Catching up!

Three Ari Cat Studies

9" x 12" charcoal and white charcoal pencils on Bogus paper.

I suppose I could have photographed each of these separately and been caught up, but I like it as a page of cat studies for my wall. That's where it's hanging now. I have space to hang more on my sketch walls because I removed two pictorial 2014 calendars, left me at least four art spaces - now it looks like five really because I could hang a canvas from the nail the calendar hung on. Might try something in acrylics or oil sticks on a canvas, since I have half a dozen small stretched canvases. Heh, neat, I don't need to change the keywords. Still the same cat!

SECOND EDIT: 10pm

Coral Painting, 5" x 7"

W&N Watercolour Markers on Bockingford paper

Relaxing with an undersea documentary, I realized these flat top coral formations would be perfect for a monochrome composition. I didn't follow the screen closely, only used it for a general sense of their overlapping shapes and relative proportions. Designed this painting almost as an abstraction and I'm very happy with how it came out. This particular Prussian Blue Hue with its deep value range is a wonderful monochrome color. I don't think I'd ever tire of it.

Now I only have to catch up with one more painting, but I can't add another link to Leslie Saeta's blog so I'll have to try that tomorrow, see if I can put more than one painting into a single upload.