It's not over till its over!

A few weeks ago I talked about finishing the painting of Albert and the cat pillows. It was signed,  and I was sure I was done with it. Like most of my paintings, I put it in a place to dry that was visible to me every time I walked to my bedroom. I was sure the painting was finished . . . positive in fact. So why did I have to stop and stare at it every time I walked past it, thinking about it as I lay in bed, going over it with a fine tooth comb in my mind. Well the proverbial light bulb finally went off last Monday, about 4 in the morning. I woke from a sound sleep into total awakeness . . . the gray cat!!! Finally an answer to the unease when I looked at the painting! The gray cat pillow stood out like a sore thumb in the painting, even though is was painted with paynes gray, the same color I had used in the other pillows. The difference was I had used titanium white to make the blue gray, the only place I had used it in the whole painting, it was jarring! Looking at it then, it was hard to understand why it took me so long to see the problem. A very large case of tunnel vision! It is easy to get so involved in the process of a painting that we only see the individual parts rather than the whole. I sat down and played with colors until the painting was more cohesive. The gray pillow is now a light tan color, similar to two other pillows in the painting and I added a pattern of red hearts. The color pattern of the painting is now much more pleasing.  It is sitting back in the walk by spot, now when I walk by I can smile and keep on walking by. This painting is now really done!

Cats for All!!

Sad to say I finished the "Cats" painting. Why sad? This painting has been so much fun to paint, from pencil sketch to finished painting! Playing with the patterns and colors was refreshing and thought provoking making the whole experience a pleasure.

The above is the 5th photo of the "cats" painting. Some of the detail has been put in, but more is needed. The orange and yellow stripped cat doesn't hold down the right side of the painting and needs to have the yellow stripes made dark and the grey and white  cat needs to be outlined. Of course Albert needs to have his whiskers put on!

Here is the finished piece, signed and everything! I love this painting and will have prints made up for sale. As you can see the cat in the lower right now has black stripes and the brown cat next to him is now sporting beige polka dots. Not so easy to see are Albert's white whiskers, but I guarantee that they are there. On to my next painting, which believe it or not is not a cat painting but a landscape! Not to worry though I will be back painting Albert or one of his friends soon. Speaking of cats....this last weekend my friend Rick and I were in Sumner, and found the greatest little shop called "The Collectible Cat". It is a cat lovers heaven, everything from jewelry to towels! There is even a resident cat named Reilly, a rehomed beauty who has found a loving forever home.