May 24, 2010 - Day 287

Ink & Watercolor on 250gsm Stonehenge 100% Cotton Vellum Paper

I was totally stuck tonight on what to paint. I want to move on from the ink and wash but still have another 13 days to go with the medium. I was going to do a still-life but I really wanted to challenge myself with creating animals in pen and wash. I have not been happy with the way they are turning out but I really didn't know what to do about it.

When I am stuck for ideas I like to go the Wetcanvas.com. This is a wonderful website for all artists. It has forums for all the different mediums as well as thousands of copyright free reference photos. This website is my favorite place to go for all things art.

I decided to check out the Pen & Ink/Caligraphy channel. There were so many talented artists showing their work. I was able to see how amazing pen & ink drawings could be and this motivated and inspired me to try again.

I love the markings on tabby cats especially the "M" shaped lines on their forehead. I went to the reference photo library at Wetcanvas.com and found this beautiful photograph of a grey tabby cat. I wasn't sure how it would turn out but I started by putting in the main features and then the black lines. The rest of the cat I just tried to put the lightest lines possible in the direction that the fur would naturally go. After it was dry I added the watercolor washes. I am really pleased with the result.

I don't know if I will be able to duplicate the results tomorrow night. Once I started the painting tonight everything just flowed. I wasn't even in a mood to paint but sometimes the painting just turns out. I don't why - I wasn't any more inspired or motivated tonight to paint than I was last night.