Day 30 Ari Cat from Life

Ari Cat from Life

7" square pastels on Stillman & Birn Beta journal

Fini! The very last painting for my 30 paintings in 30 days challenge. I thought I'd do something square, bold and colorful. Instead I did something square, soft, tonal and muted. My cat sat in that pose for all of about five or ten seconds. It's usually a prelude to his laying down. I stared at him for the entire time and then sketched fast in charcoal when he moved. So there he is! Fluffy tail and all. I loved what he did with his tail, that little J shape on the ground thing is so cool.

Yeah, well, I love my cat. The carpet really is a vaguely pinkish neutral. The walls allegedly white are faded and stained from years since they were painted, the light in here is yellowish and the door does have those panels on it. He wasn't sitting by the door but he often does, so I simplified the background by not putting in my walker and computer cords and piles of art supplies on the floor where he'd really been sitting. I wanted the wall behind him for definition. Easy matter to look over at the corner by the door for that too.

I will be doing two more pieces today, at least sketches, because I got tagged on Facebook for 3 artworks a day for 5 days challenge by Tammy Gustafson-Vanderbur. I doubted I could manage three a day that long, but she and Dani Day both pointed out I could post older art if I wanted to. So there's a backup plan.

Me, I'm actually taking the challenge to new pieces so that these next five days I do more sketching. I consider it counts even if they are all on the same page. My cat will feature strongly in them, I'm sure.

Well, here's the other two for today, in order!

Pear Study, 6" square pastel on paper

I did this one in the full Colourist style on rough brown sketch paper, loved the way it came out. Played with colors in the background too, shading both hue and value from left to right, top to bottom.

Then after finishing that one, I decided what the heck. I'll do one with a gold background. I love those Metallic Pan Pastels, why not actually set off a colorful subject with them?

Orange On Gold

6" square pastels and Pan Pastels on brown rough paper.

This one I used the Terry Ludwig Sunset set of 14 and also the 14 Best Loved Basics since I needed some browns and darks and other hues to go with the pure bright yellows, oranges and reds. I came very close to the true colors of this bright orange that way, it is searing and gorgeous!

I ate both pears, the little green one from the previous Three Fruits painting and the big green one from today. They were great. Tasted even better for having been painted first!