Sometimes a client will have several different reference photos and asks that I paint them all in one painting. This painting is such an example of three different reference photos that were used to create this oil painting.
Each photo showed one cat in a different pose and the tricky part was to combine them in a setting that made sense. My client told me that the black cat always liked to snuggle up against the orange tabby cat. The kitten, which was much younger was apparently very playful and that gave me the idea to rotate the photo and sandwich the younger cat between the snugglers.
Now those wide eyes of the kitten make sense. This little one got caught up between the two older ones and is about to be sandwiched. Yikes!
I work in many layers and start with a fresh paper palette each time I tackle a new section of the painting. This helps me to stay focused and prevents me from working in areas that need to dry.
The strongest photo was the one of the orange Tabby cat and I mad her the focus of my painting. She has the most amount of detail and brushwork.
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