October 1 - Pesto the Studio Cat, Lesson #1

Started a new painting, this one is an 8 x 10 inch oil (the oils were still out from the dog painting!). It is from a photo I took of the studio cat, "Pesto" snoozing right next to this computer. I liked her relaxed pose so much, and the usual piles of papers on my desk, sooooo... that this seems a natural subject to paint. Plus, she's a good model.

The canvas is toned, (what I DIDN'T do for the dog painting--makes for a major headache if not done--so many "holidays"--tiny white specks of canvas showing through!) with a thin mix of red-gold and burnt umber. The first lay-in is here, roughly defining the edges of the large shapes, and also keeping the details until later on. I'm using mostly cools from my cool box, and since this is inside with just diffuse lighting, I'm going to have to put some "punch" in the colors and/or values to make it sing.

Pesto is a calico, and very friendly! And that's my Capresso machine in the background--can't live without my coffee! And isn't everyone's desk as cluttered as mine?

Now, she is usually not this shy, but when I told her she was being painted, this was her response:

Or maybe it is the Arts & Entertainment section she just read?

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