Cat Among The Tulips: 6

The Home Straight.

I think I’m not too far away from the finish line with Sparta Puss’ portrait with tulips. Today I blended the highlight colours in her fur with Yellow Ochre, Burnt Umber and Raw Umber, all transparent. I used Dioxadine Purple and Titanium White to do more work on the chocolate tin and tulips, and Unbleached Titanium to re-work the highlights on her face. She looks quite sulky now, but that’s normal for her!

I’m using Liquitex Heavy Body acrylic paint on a stretched square canvas with a variety of brushes – Daler Rowney and Winsor & Newton man-made brushes for acrylic, and a vintage Isabey squirrel hair for the very fine detailing.

Cat Among The Tulips: 5.

Still painting Sparta Puss, it’s taking a while but it’s not something to be rushed.

Using Liquitex Heavy Body acrylics and a fan brush I highlighted the areas of lighter tones on her fur in Titanium White (left); with a flat brush I painted details on the tulip leaves and added colour to the curtains in Light Green Permanent (centre); and Quinacridone Blue Violet and Titanium White to do some detailing on the tulips and the chocolate tin.

#Caturday Among The Tulips: 4.

Darkening the kitty.

More work on my portrait of Sparta Puss today. Her fur is mostly very dark, black in places, so I’m adding layers of different transparent paints to darken it in stages. I don’t want to use black paint as I think it’s too harsh so I used Raw Umber (Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic). I also used it for the shadows on the chocolate tin, to develop depth.

Cat Among The Tulips: 3

A bit more work on my painting of Sparta Puss with tulips today, doing the white areas and starting on the facial features, which I did freehand with a small brush and white paint. It’s not a bad likeness, her eyes are a bit close together but that’s easily corrected. I began the details on the chocolate tin as well. This picture is as much a still-life as a portrait of the cat.

The Performance Poet

Rocking the microphone.

Here’s a quick sketch I made a few weeks ago at a poetry gig at the Elysium Gallery and Bar. He was very lively, great fun and I managed to keep up with him as I scribbled.

Cat Among The Tulips: 2.

Getting there.

I carried on with the painting of Sparta Puss, adding some more layers of translucent Liquitex Heavy Body acrylics. I played with the brushstrokes on the cat’s fur, using paint straight from the tube on a dry brush and making them choppy to look more furry.

I added Dioxazine Purple for the tin of chocolates and to pick out some of the shadows (left), a wash of Van Dyke Red on the cat and table (centre), and translucent Burnt Umber on the cat and tin, along with opaque Bright Aqua Green on the leaves and stems (right). It’s coming along ….

Cat Among The Tulips: 1.

Developing the underpainting.

I have had a nasty cold the past few days and I wanted to do something to occupy myself that was fun so I decided to paint Sparta Puss from a photo where she’s posing in front of some beautiful tulips. I started with the canvas I recently covered in an opaque Magenta ground (here).

I blocked in a rough outline with a translucent Hooker’s Green (left), then added highlights in opaque Titanium White (centre), and used a rag to apply a textured opaque Titanium White directly onto the still damp Hooker’s Green in the background and some texture into the cat’s coat. Plenty more to do though. I’m using Liquitex Heavy Body acrylic paint onto a stretched canvas.

#StandingStoneSunday: The Book Launch

The author Dewi Bowen by the artist Melvyn Williams.

“Hunting The Wild Megalith“, the book of the journey of the Boar Hunt (Y Twrch Trwyth) is being launched this coming Friday (March 31st) at Swansea’s prestigious GS Artists gallery. The book is based on the theory that the route of The Boar Hunt in the Mabinogion includes most of the major Neolithic and Bronze Age stone monuments across South Wales. Author Dewi Bowen has painstakingly mapped them and co-written this book (with Olwyn Pritchard) which is not just learned but also full of entertaining stories, humour and art. 

Swansea-based artist and filmmaker Melvyn Williams drew the portrait of Dewi above and also made several short films of Dewi’s explorations across South Wales, hunting the wild megaliths. Here’s one of the films, with Dewi, me and various Welsh horses.

Recycling Paintings I Don’t Want.

Slapping On The Gesso.

I opened up a tub of acrylic gesso, grabbed some palette knives and covered a couple of used canvases with a thick textured layer. The paintings were done a while back with Ed Sumner’s Cheese and Wine Painting Club on Facebook during the pandemic lockdown. They were fun to do and I learned a lot but I can’t see any point in keeping them.

Picasso top and Kandinsky bottom.

I want to do a few atmospheric, heavily textured paintings soon, so this is a good start.

Prepping in Pink

A Big Pink Ground.

I’m starting a new painting so the first thing to do is to prepare it by getting rid of the intimidating white that’s on a fresh new canvas. During the Covid19 lockdown, which went on for nearly 2 years, I took up painting after a break of about 4 decades – I hadn’t painted since art college. I joined Ed Sumner‘s “Cheese and Wine Paint Club” on Facebook and followed along weekly as Ed taught lots of Lockdowners how to paint by “faking” famous paintings. It was fun, it was instructive and it created a lovely community of people united in art.

Ed taught us to start each painting with a coloured “ground”, often a bright orange, yellow or pink. He called this a “lustre” and although most of it will disappear under the final painting, it will add a richness and warmth.

I’m using Liquitex Heavy Body acrylic paint onto a stretched and primed canvas.