Black Cat Drawing - Morticia Stops By For a Critique

Tishy took a minute out of her busy day of cat napping to wander through the studio and take a look at my latest black cat drawing.  Black kitty Coco's drawing is in the works, still have a ways to go with it.  It's funny because I can do a black cat painting much faster than any other color of cat, but black cat drawings take much longer than other cats - days and days longer!  And that's because I build these pencil drawings up layer by layer and the darker the subject, the more layers and more time.  There's no rushing the process - it takes as long as it takes and really it is quite a zen experience :-)

Black Cat Art - Black Cat Drawing by Diane Irvine Armitage called Catnip Crown

A little sketch I did of a big eye, pop surrealism style black cat wearing a catnip crown.  I love pop surrealist and lowbrow art and especially big eyes art!  Done in a very soft sketchy style, this drawing is available as a print in the Black Cat Art section of my etsy shop.

Black Cat Art, Black Cat Print by Diane Irvine Armitage, Big Eye Pop Surrealism Art

I have added a lot of new black cat art prints to my etsy shop!  Perfect for crazy cat lady gifts or great art for your wall if you are a cat lover.  Click on the link in the right sidebar to check them out!

Black Cat Paintings by Diane Irvine Armitage Facebook Page

Be sure to like my Facebook page - Black Cat Paintings by Diane Irvine Armitage if you want to follow my black cat painting adventures.  Click on the Facebook button on the right and then click on Like under the page banner.

Fluffy Maine Coon Type Cat Paintings by Diane Irvine Armitage

 I have been enjoying paintings some really lovely fluffy cats lately!  Lots of different colors to paint, very detailed work.

The first painting is of Angela's Scully, 8 x 10 inches.

The second painting is of Steve's Darla, 24 x 18 inches.

Here are a few progress shots of the paintings.

I started with a burnt umber toned board.  I find it to be a wonderful surface to paint on. 

I like to let a little of the warm undertone show through in the finished painting.

Same thing with Darla's painting.  I toned the white gesso'd board with burnt umber and then did a precise drawing over that.  I find with commissioned portraits that drawing with a grid system allows me to get the features in exactly the right place which is the key to getting a likeness.

Then it is just a matter of painting in the right values and color changes in all the little areas.  Lots of little patches of color on these tabby cats!

I keep working the painting over several days, pushing and pulling the lights and darks until I get to the finished painting.

Black Cats and White Cats - Original Oil Paintings by Diane Irvine Armitage

Here are two of three portrait commissions that I have done for Roxane.  Both paintings are very large - 18 x 36 inches!  One is of her black cat Gin and the other of her white cat Sel (which means Salt in French).  I painted these paintings in several stages.  First with an underpainting where I put in a nice reddish brown in the background area so it could peek through in the finished painting.  These paintings were a real pleasure to paint!

 Finished paintings on my drying shelf in the studio.

 

 The painting of Gin in progress ...

 

 And the final painting of Gin ...

 The painting of Sel in progress ...

 Underpainting, then second session ...

 And then the final painting of Sel.

The Chocolate Cat Gaia - A Speed Painting Video by Diane Irvine Armitage

This is the second portrait I have painted of the Chocolate Cat Gaia.  Such a fun face to paint!  This tuxedo cat oozes personality :-)  This painting is 11 x 14 inches.

I put together a speed painting video of the painting session and you can see it HERE.