GIFTS

Giving a painting as a gift is always risky unless you REALLY know the recipient's taste in art. Today this painting is headed to Indianapolis where our younger son lives. We think he'll be surprised with the painting, which is for his birthday today. Duke is on the right, and Daisy is the partially cross eyed Siamese mix on the left.

Getting the right photo to work from for pets is often challenging. Once I have a good photo and a good drawing, the painting is fairly simple to do. Paint the shapes with the right values and establish the proper edge for the shape. Miskit fur edges that are too hard to paint around, and don't paint any 'fur' hairs until the very end, painting them sparingly only where needed to suggest the softness of the fur. Color choices are not nearly as critical as getting the correct values of lights and darks. In fact, the purple, coral, orange, blues, and teal were fun to use for shadows.

My husband was surprised when I started this painting on Friday night. He asked when I'd get it done. Actual painting time was under three and a half hours, but the drawing and miskiting time took longer than that. If I count the time it took to get the right photos, too, the preparation time before putting paint in my brush is more than double the painting time. For me, the preparation, planning, and drawing are critical for a good painting, and I enjoy all the planning just as much as I love the painting time.

Painting size is approximately 17 x 22", making the cats life size. Happy birthday, MATT!

SAM KITTY

Got home tonight from a great vacation with our 8 yr. old grandson - spent wandering down the coast of Oregon then back up the Cascade
Mountain Range, finishing along the beautiful Columbia River - beautiful, luscious country - so hard to leave behind to come back to the humid, muggy midwest.

Crater Lake was beyond any words! Thanks, Lynn, for telling us about it.

We used to come home from trips to be greeted by this gorgeous old cat named Sam. He's gone now, but I still thought of him when we got back in town.

He was a Maine Coon, and I think, 'part dog.' Our younger son taught him to sit and stand on command! I miss him. This painting was done several years ago, and animals are just about the only commissions I ever accept to paint now.

Looking forward to class tomorrow, but it won't have quite the atmosphere that Dawn and I had as we spent the day at a picnic table in the woods last week painting amidst the Oregon ferns and conifers. Great memories.

"SAM KITTY" Transparent Watercolor on 140#CP Fabriano Artistico 11 x 15"

BRRRRRR!!!!! irthday!

It's another cold morning, but it's also a day to celebrate. Rhonda Carpenter's birthday is today. Happy Birthday, Rhonda. It's been a good year for her, and I'm sure today will be special, too. This month she was voted Watercolor Workshop Artist of the year - see info and accolades at http://www.susieshort.net/2008-wcwaoty.html or go to her diverse blog at http://rhcarpenter.blogspot.com/. Here's Rhonda experimenting with a new process in class... looking pretty contemplative at this point. Karen's behind her, and you can just see Kathy's hands in the back.


Rhonda loves cats so today's post is a painting of the cat we used to have. Sam was a gray, long haired Maine Coon cat with the gentlest disposition in the world. When he found us, it took well over 3 months for us to get to touch him. He was a mess, matted fur, etc. Eventually, he knew he could trust us. He lived to the ripe old age of 19 years old and was probably even older than that. He was the best kitty.

"TIME FOR LUNCH?" Transparent Waterolor on Arches 140#CP 6 x 6" SOLD