The Cat Who Came to Dinner

Meet Wesley, my sister’s cat. He was the neighborhood alley cat who roamed free and dined freely on handouts from his friends. It was a great life until his family moved and left him to forage on his own. My sister was his favorite. He came to dinner and never left.

Inspiration

I want to include cats in pet portraiture portfolio. The photo is my sister’s cat that she adopted. Wesley was the neighborhood tom cat that was abandoned when his family moved.

Materials and Process

Watercolor pencils on Pastelmat. The application of watercolor pencils uses both layering and stroke techniques to achieve value and details. A damp scrubber brush is used to blend the pigments and move them around the surface.

Challenges or “Wins”

This was my first use of Pastelmat, and watercolor pencils for a painting. The first layers of watercolor pencil seemed haphazard and messy. On Pastelmat, the pigments blend and merge together easily. The layering process and detail is similar to colored pencil, but much faster.

The challenge was painting a cat with white fur along with the details that make each pet unique.

Watercolor pencils on Pastelmat is a fast method to achieving realistic results.