September 9, 2009 - Day 30

Da Vinci watercolor on 140lb Aquarelle cold press watercolor paper

Today I decided to do a painting of a black cat because I thought it would be easier to see the highlights and shadows on the dark fur. The hardest thing about this painting was making sure that the paint was mixed dark enough the first time.

I painted this painting twice today. The first time, I didn't know how to achieve the highlights in the fur and ended up using Prismacolor colored pencil for the highlights and to add some more depth to the eye. I also used colored pencils to darken some areas and provide more detail. I decided to list this painting on ebay (see link on sidebar) and create another one using only watercolor paint.

The second painting was easier although I still had problems with the highlights. The only other problem I had was that the black really didn't sink into the paper and it was very easy to lift off. When I tried to darken some areas a lot of the color would lift off with just one brush stroke. I don't know if that is because of the paper or the paint. I use Aquamarine Blue + Burnt Sienna to make my black and I have never had an issue with it lifting so easily.

I really love cats and would like to improve my ability to paint the fur accurately so I will be doing a series of cats over the next few days.