Cat's Eyes

Mr. Fuz Zy Pants got his eyes back and one whisker

Remind me never to do a calico cat again. All the different shadings in his coat and his whiskers are driving me crazy. Today, FP got his eyes back and one whisker; he needs a few more.  I lightened Taylor up too, but she will probably go dark again. I just needed more color in the blackish background and a softer transition passage between the cat and her face.

PASTELS: WARMING UP THE BLACK

Painterly Pastel revisited.

I didn't like how dead black the background was. I didn't  like what 'swiping' a folded piece of toweling did to the background. I went back in to get the freshness back. It was a risky move, for most often your first efforts are the best and can never be retrieved once they've been messed with. But It my painting and it's me learning the ins and outs of pastels, so what the hell. (The light on the cloth didn't reproduce photographically exactly how it is. The gold isn't nearly as obvious and the white is actually a pale pink. Everything after that is pretty much how it is).

This is the original rendition

...before I went in with the swipes and added colors to the black. It's more lively. The pitcher has some interesting strokes that are now gone, but the highlights aren't high enough on the plum or the drapery it's set upon, and the background is still dead. I do like the roughness of the strokes. So blending is not something I want from this medium is what I learned from this exercise.

In a workshop or class, the object is not to make a masterpiece. The object is to learn what you can and cannot do with the medium--what you want from the medium. No student should walk out of the experience thumping their chest with pride. Being in a learning place, the object is to listen, learn and then push it to find what pleases you. A smooth surface doesn't please me. I like the unevenness of color a swipe of the pastel produces.