Tabby Or Not To Tabby?

Portrait of a Tabby Cat, 148x210mm

I am currently writing this post from the comfort of my sofa, unfortunately I’ve had to move my studio back home because it is freeee-zing at my art studio. I could have used the electric heaters that are around there but, by the time I’ve heated my space, I would have left and…it would cost me a lot over a week! I very lucky where I live because we (boyfriend and I) have good insulation, few! I have currently set up a mini art station in the corner of my living room and this seems to be enough for now.

I thought I would share my 11th free commission, which was offered at the start of my business adventure. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how many paid commissions I’ve been offered this Winter and so I will have to finish the last one in the New Year! Unfortunately I won’t be giving out anymore free ones, except I do have a 15% discount for orders until the 31st January 2023.

This commission proved a lovely challenge for me because, of the backlighting in the original photograph. I really loved painting the contrast between the blurred background and the finite details of the wood in the foreground. I create the blur by painting with wet paint on a selected wet area, and this makes the colours appear duller but also eradicates finite lines. I’m always nervous and excited when I create blurry backgrounds because you can never quite predict how it might turn out, but that is the magic of this technique.

You might have noticed that I add white acrylic on top for the detailed white areas, I use a white acrylic pen to add these marks on. This makes the white stand out very well but also makes my job a lot easier! I might experiment in this area with different types of acrylic pens to see which one is best.