Painting A Cat In Oils

When entertaining small children, we often find ourselves painting the most unlikely of subjects. For me, cats fall neatly into that category, although I am led to believe that it is the most commonly painted subject by artists. Perhaps because they remain stagnant for such long periods on end? However it may be, I found myself painting a cat to amuse a little girl and recorded the steps. This one is for all the cat-lovers out there!

Today's cat was painted on paper. I used Daler-Rowney's Acrylic Pad.

This is a very smooth and sturdy paper to paint on.

I used charcoal for my drawing. I started with two large circles for the head and body.

I then drew the detail for the head.

This was followed by the detail for the body.

I then brushed away the loose charcoal particles from the drawing.

I then used both thick and fine black markers to redraw the cat. This step is optional.

I painted the background with Liquin. You can also use linseed oil or turpentine. but using Liquin will speed up the drying time. All three mediums makes the paint more oily and 'spreadable'.

Here is a close-up shot of the Liquin bottle.

I then covered my background in a pale blue that I got by mixing Phthalo Blue with Titanium White.

The colour was mixed on the palette, rather than on the canvas.

Here are the alternative mediums you could use to paint a smooth background.

I then mixed Permanent Violet and Prussian Green to create a lively black.

It is best to use a palette knife to mix colours, rather than a brush, as you will damage the bristles on the brush when you mix your colours with it.

I used Red Ochre for the warm tones in the fur of the cat.

I started with the warm tones. applying these with a round brush.

I then added my black with a flat brush.

I added more warm tones.

Adding Titanium White to the picture, I drew the other colours along to fill the palest parts of the cat.

I used more white to accentuate the features of the cat.

I used a fine brush to paint the detail on the cat's face.

Finally the cat was done, to the great delight of a little girl!

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy the books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.

Jy kan Kom Ons Teken en Verf Tuinstories hier koop.
Jy kan Kom Ons Kleur Tuinstories In hier koop.
Jy kan Tuinstories hier koop.
You can follow Miekie's daily Bible Study blog, Bybel Legkaart, here in English & Afrikaans.
For more crafty ideas and great products, visit A Pretty Talent on Facebook.
Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making PRETTY things.
You can subscribe to this blog and receive regular updates by email by simply registering your email address at the top of the current blog.