Project 1: Domestic Shorthair

Hazel showed up at our door fifteen years ago, apparently homeless. We fed her and she stayed. Two years later, one of our neighbors spotted the cat and told me that Hazel used to be their cat. The neighbor said they had decided to make Hazel an outdoor cat, so she must have gone shopping for a new home! I guess she likes us, as she has never left. Hazel is spending her old age as a pampered indoor cat.

Reference Photo

1 Establish the Form and the Dark Values

Lightly draw the cat and fence post in pencil. Use a kneaded eraser to lighten any lines that come out too dark. With a no. 5 round and Payne’s Gray thinned with water, establish the main lights and darks. For broad areas, use a no. 7 round.

For the black coat color, mix Burnt Umber and Ultramarine Blue. With a no. 3 round, paint the black parts of the cat’s coat. Use a no. 1 round for the outline of the eyes. As the paint dries, add more layers until the dark areas are dense.

For the background, I mixed a dark green with Hooker’s Green Permanent, Burnt Umber, Cadmium Orange and Ultramarine Blue. I painted with a no. 10 shader, using a no. 4 round to paint around the cat’s outline.

2 Paint the Middle Values

Mix a bluish shadow color for the cat’s coat with Titanium White, Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna. First define the nose and muzzle using a no. 3 round and a mixture created with a small portion of the bluish shadow color and Cadmium Orange, Burnt Sienna and Burnt Umber. Then paint the shadowed areas with the bluish shadow color and a no. 7 round, using brushstrokes that follow the hair pattern. For smaller areas, such as the cat’s face, use a no. 3 round. When dry, add another coat for good coverage.

Mix a ginger color for the coat with Titanium White, Raw Sienna and Cadmium Orange. Paint with a no. 3 round.

3 Paint the Outline and Begin Detailing the Coat

Paint the white highlighted outline of the cat with Titanium White and a no. 3 round, following the contours with your brush. Use a separate no. 3 round with the neighboring color to blend where the white meets the other color.

For the warm shadow color in the cat’s coat, mix Titanium White, Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Umber and Burnt Sienna. Paint with a no. 3 round, using parallel strokes that follow the hair pattern. Blend the edges with a separate no. 3 round and the bluish shadow color.

4 Add Detail to the Cat

Mix a pink color for the nose and inside the ears with Titanium White, Scarlet Red, Cadmium Orange and Burnt Umber. Paint with a no. 1 round. Paint the highlighted outline of the ears and top of the head with Titanium White and a no. 1 round. Use separate no. 1 rounds to blend the white with the adjacent black and ginger.

Mix a yellowish eye color with Titanium White, Yellow Oxide, Ultramarine Blue and a touch of Cadmium Orange. Paint with a no. 1 round. Re-establish the pupils and adjust the eye shape as needed with a no. 1 round and the black.

With a no. 1 round and Titanium White, add fur detail to the face. For detail in the black fur areas, use a no. 1 round to mix some of the bluish shadow color with the black on your palette. Paint strokes sparingly over the black fur. Re-establish any places that become too light with the black and a no. 1 round.

Tone down and soften the warm shadow fur detail using a no. 1 round and the bluish shadow color.

5 Add Detail to the Fur and Fence Post

Use a no. 1 round and Titanium White to add fur detail to the tail, the shadowed areas of the coat and around the cat’s outline. Correct the outer contours as needed with a separate no. 1 round and the dark green background color. Tone down any white brushstrokes that are too prominent with a no. 3 round and some of the bluish shadow color.

Darken the shadow between the front legs and under the feet with a no. 1 round and some of the black mixed with some of the bluish shadow color.

Add detail to the fence post by painting roughly vertical cracks with a no. 3 round and the black. Add lighter tones with a no. 3 round and some of the bluish shadow color, using the same vertical strokes. Use a semi-drybrush technique with a no. 3 round to tone down and add detail with a grayish color made from the black and bluish shadow colors.

HAZEL

Acrylic on Gessobord

12”× 9”(30cm × 23cm)

6 Add Finishing Details

Paint detail in the black part of the tail with a no. 1 round and a bit of the bluish shadow color mixed with Burnt Umber. Blend with a separate no. 1 round and the black, using the same brush and color to “fuzz” the edges of the tail.

Use a no. 1 round and a small amount of Burnt Umber thinned with water to paint a circular wash around the pupils in the eyes, blending the edges to avoid a sharp line. Paint horizontal, slightly curved arcs for highlights in the eyes with a no. 1 round and the bluish shadow color. Re-establish the pupils as needed.

Paint a thin wash of Burnt Umber with a no. 3 round over the cat’s nose and the ginger-colored fur on the head.

Paint the whiskers with a no. 0 round. Use the bluish shadow color for the whiskers on the right side of the face (overlapping the background) and for above the eyes. Use Titanium White for the whiskers on the opposite side of the face. Paint with curving, light-pressured strokes. If any whiskers come out too thick or stand out too much, use a separate no. 0 round to correct them with the color beneath the whiskers.

For the weathered gray fence post, I mixed together Titanium White, Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna and Burnt Umber. I painted the fence post with vertical strokes.