Levitating Cat

This ends a very, very long break from my blog. Wow.  Habits are easy to keep when you keep them going and hard to start back up when you don't.  My hiatus started right before I left on vacation (juggling convention in Fort Wayne IN with a stop in Milwaukee for several days before the convention started - - thanks for asking).  Since returning, I have not been good about carving out time to draw and paint (or blog) for various reasons.  The most recent excuse is a delicious one.  The black raspberries in my yard are blessing me with abundance.  I'm spending around 30 - 45 minutes each day harvesting.  Most of them are going into the freezer to enjoy throughout the rest of the year.

The first day back from vacation was for laundry and other type of re-entry-related tasks. Plus, I started this painting. It's the second try of one of my last paintings.  I love how this cat's paws just spill over the side of the bunk bed.  There is an ease in how cats use their bodies which fascinates me.  Maybe, I should take some pictures that aren't so focused on the face, but rather the cat's overall pose, and try to paint from those.  It would be a good excuse to work in a more rectangular format and to try to build volume and shapes with paint.

I like the start and, in truth, am afraid of messing it up.  Silly, I know.  It's just on paper.  I can (and will) always paint another one.  I will finish this soon.  Until that point, meet the levitating cat.  I left more black gesso peeking through the body of the cat, but in truth, it could use even more.

Two nights ago, just to pick up a paint brush, I spent several minutes and painted two color wheels. For one I used the greener shade of blue.  In the other, I used the redder shade of blue. I only used one layer of color and am pleased with the coverage/opaqueness in the yellows, oranges, and reds.