Watercolor Kitten

Happy New Year! Let's make 2015 a great year filled with love, family, friends and of course, ART!!

Last Christmas, I gave my friend a little watercolor painting of her kitten.  She got another kitten over the summer and when I asked her what she'd like for Christmas this year, she asked if I would be able to do another painting of the new kitty so she could display them together.  I was more than happy to, as I love cats and really enjoy doing animal portraits for people. 

When I paint animals, the first thing I start with is the eyes. If the eyes are wrong, the rest of the painting will be wrong, so that's why I start there. I also love painting eyes, the challenge of making them look real with different tones and colors and highlights. It's the best part of the painting!

 He seems to look a little angry here, but that's just the shape of cat eyes. So enjoyable to paint, especially in watercolor. I love painting cat's green eyes, like my cat has and my friend's other cat. This little guy has more yellowish eyes though, and finding that shade was a little tricky. I used some sap green, yellow ochre, naples yellow and burnt umber. I think. 

Next is just the progression of the rest of this face, body and background.

"Maverick", watercolor on paper. 4"x6".