Thursday 17 February 2011

18/02: CAT IN PASTEL ON SENNELIER PASTEL CARD - UPDATE

had a wonderful day in France - bought lots of wine and French cheeses and crevettes (which I've just spent an hour peeling and freezing).   We had lunch at a lovely little restaurant where the owner didn't speak any English so it put our skills to the test (David's French is far better than mine)!  I'm quite exhausted now but  have to be up reasonably early tomorrow to travel to London to meet others involved with the UKCPS Exhibition in September.

I've been given the OK to show Work In Progress pictures of the cat on my Blog so here are some more photos ... isn't she pretty?     I won't mention her name yet ... just in case it gets Googled and spoils the birthday surprise.



I sent this photo and the following one to my client asking whether he wanted me to centralise the cat and simply fade out the fur on her chest, or whether to continue drawing fur on her chest/leg area and take it right down to the bottom of the portrait.    He has asked me to centralise her .. so once I've done that the mounted portrait will look something like this



This was a photo I took part way along the process .... I thought I had taken more photos at the earlier stages but now can't find them - lost in cyberspace somewhere obviously!



I'm enjoying this commission and can't wait to get back to work on it on Sunday/Monday.

14 comments:

  1. Wow Sue - you got this one done so quickly - I love it!!! How did you find the Pan pastels? I haven't come across too many pastel artists who really love them, but I love them for achieving soft backgrounds very quickly. You certainly have achieved a beautiful softness here :)

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  2. Thanks Karen - it isn't finished yet - more fine fur detail and whiskers etc to be added.

    I don't often use soft pastels - preferring pencils even though coverage takes forever ... but I really enjoyed using Pan Pastel for the underpainting here. I felt I had more control than with soft pastel and my hands stayed clean as I used an applicator. It covered really well and quickly. I haven't given it a proper test yet ... I've been sent various colours so I hope to test them on different surfaces and do lots of blending etc.

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  3. purrrrr so soft and cuddly looking :) and those eyes are so intense looking

    7 years of french in school, and i only remember how to count to 10 and how to say the days of the week. not very helpful lol

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  4. Beautiful cat and beautiful painting.

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  5. merci beaucoup Jennifer :o)

    Thanks Jeanne, she is a beautiful cat isn't she and those eyes are just enormous.

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  6. What a gorgeous cat - such wonderful eyes. You've really worked your magic here. I'm so envious that you have Pan Pastels - they are so expensive!

    Thanks for visiting my blog. x

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  7. Hi Gillian

    I don't know what price they'd retail at in the UK. From my 'mini-trial' I'd say there will be little or no wastage so thats a consideration when working out cost effectiveness.

    Bernadette Ward (Berni) from Colorfin told me they are currently available from 3 outlets here but they're looking to expand the number of retailers this year.

    Colorfin have kindly donated 10 trial packs to be used as prizes for the 'Highly Commended' award winners in the UKCPS Mixed Media exhibition in September which is an incentive to enter a picture or two :o)

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  8. That is a gorgeous cat and her eyes are mezmerizingly beautiful. Her chest fur looks so soft and touchable too. You're doing a great job on her.

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  10. oh Sue it is beautiful! I just love the way it looks like it could jump right out of the picture! you have a magical way of making the cat fur look so real! I just don't know how you do it! You are so talented and just amaze me! Your trip to France sounded like a romantic and fun time!

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  11. Thank you Jan and KT ... I know I've said it before but sometimes when I'm really attracted to the person or animal, the subject almost draws itself and this is one of those portraits.

    I just love her eyes ...

    I guess the trip to France was kind of romantic as it was in Valentines week ... and we did have a lovely lunch :o)

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  12. Stunning cat Sue. I might have to try Pan pastels!

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  13. Beautiful job Love it and I am sure your client was thrilled.
    It pop right out . I can't stop looking at it.

    Brilliant work Sue.

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  14. I marvel at how you capture the eyes, absolutely perfect.
    ☼ Sunny

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