The Cat with Kaleidoscope Eyes - Black Cat Original Oil Painting by Diane Irvine Armitage

I'm really happy with today's painting!  I call it "The Cat with Kaleidoscope Eyes" because of the sketchy impressionist style painting of the eyes.  I like to paint closeup cat faces where the emphasis is on the eyes and keep the rest of the details to a minimum, like today's painting.

I think I will paint this in a large version as well - maybe 4 feet by 4 feet.  That should be fun!  Today's painting is 6 x 6 inches on archival gessoboard and is available on my ebay auctions HERE.

BIG Black Cat Painting - Closeup of Cat Eyes by Diane Irvine Armitage

Back to painting some bigger paintings!  Today's painting is 24 x 36 inches on canvas.  Once this one is dry, I will be bringing it down to my antiques booth to hang.  I like to have a dramatic painting at the entrance to the booth to lure the customers in : - )

If you are in town (San Juan Capistrano, CA), stop by and see my paintings in person at The Old Barn Antique Mall.

Antique Impressionist Style Black Cat Oil Painting by Diane Irvine Armitage

Today's black cat painting is very loose and sketchy with a diagonal slant to a lot of the brushstrokes.  I really like combining my favorite parts of a sketch with an oil painting.  Scumbling the black paint on very thin and then coming in with the smaller, sketchy paint lines.  Like sketching and painting, all at the same time!

This is an original oil painting on canvas with stretcher bars measuring 10 x 8 inches and is available on my ebay auctions HERE.

Black Cat Oil Painting by Diane Irvine Armitage

Today's black cat painting was done with as little strokes as possible.  I just wanted to put the paint where it went and not mess around too much.  I'm happy with the results.

This original oil painting on archival gessoboard measures 5 x 7 inches and is available on my ebay auctions HERE.

Black Cat Original Oil Painting by Diane Irvine Armitage

Another painting of my favorite model the squishy Tishy.  This is a little painting for a change, 8 x 8 inches.  I have a box of black plein air frames that are 8 x 8 inches so I thought I would paint up some black cat paintings to fit them for the October art show.

Cat Oil Painting - Tish by Diane Irvine Armitage

I really enjoyed working on today's painting.  This was painted from a picture I took of my little Tishy one day when she was curious about a display I was photographing and had to get in the middle of the shot.  I like how her eyes are very close to the background color which is the color of my back bedroom where I took the picture.  The golden eyes and background are wonderful with the overall black of the Morticia : : - )

I have been very inspired lately by several really great artists.  I am a big fan of Daniel Gerhartz's work and I bought several of his painting DVDs, which are excellent.  I highly recommend them!  I found a DVD of him and another artist painting a portrait at the same time and through that video I discovered Scott Burdick, whose work I really admire as well.  And through Scott Burdick, I discovered his wife, Susan Lyon.  I purchased her book and it is a really good book because she shows a lot of closeups of her brushwork which is to die for - very sketchy and wonderful.  Today I watched one of Susan's videos on Painting Dolls so I could see how she goes about getting that lovely loose, sketchy quality to her work.   Her video is excellent!

With today's painting of Tishy, I really loosened up and went for the sketchy approach, using some of Susan Lyon's suggestions in her video.  Especially about how to hold the brush.  It really made a big difference in my work.  Original oil painting on archival gessoboard, 11 by 14 inches.  I'm going to paint this same pose of Tish REALLY BIG.  That is this weekend's project.

You can find this painting on my Daily Paintworks Gallery Page HERE.

Tuxedo Cat Original Oil Painting - Lou Walking in the Garden by Diane Irvine Armitage

Today's painting is of my tuxedo cat Lou walking in the green garden.  Only a fantasy though, because Lou is an indoor kitty - although she does get outside in her catio.  Keeping it loose, this original oil painting is 14 by 11 inches on archival gessoboard.

You can find this painting on my Daily Paintworks Gallery page HERE.

Tuxedo Cat Walks Across Antique Wilton Rug - Original Impressionist Oil Painting

I followed my cats around yesterday taking pictures of them for future paintings, like the paparazzi chasing Miley Cyrus or something.  They started to really get tired of it and finally disappeared into the closet.  But I did get a few fun shots.

Today's painting was from yesterday's photo session.  I painted my tuxedo kitty Lou today, walking across the living room carpet.  I think the looseness of the brushstrokes convey a sense of movement, also I blurred the back of Lou a bit to make her look like she's moving.  I find it humorous that the title of this painting says "Antique Wilton Rug" since there's no way to tell it's a Wilton rug with the mush of paint going on : - )

You can find this painting on my Daily Paintworks Gallery page HERE.

Black Cat, Purple Shadow - Original Oil Painting by Diane Irvine Armitage

Today's painting is a bit larger, 8 inches by 10 inches on archival gessoboard.  Black cat with an interesting purple cast shadow.  I love the play of sunlight and shadow and especially with a black cat for the subject.  I kept the brushwork loose and the edges sketchy - fun!

You can find this painting on my Daily Paintworks Gallery page HERE.