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.

Lisa's Black Cats Lucy and Leo - Custom Cat Oil Paintings by Diane Irvine Armitage

My latest custom black cat portraits are Lisa's lovely cats Leo and Lucy.  Lisa says that Leo is not a small cat and looks like a mini black panther and that Lisa is part Siamese and has a gorgeous Siamese face with lovely pale green eyes.  I painted two sets of paintings for Lisa.  The first is a classic portrait style.

 Leo

 Lucy

The next pair of paintings are of Leo and Lucy laying down, with Leo playing with his favorite feather toy and Lucy looking adorable on Lisa's lap.

 Leo

 Lucy

Such a pleasure to paint such beautiful black cats!

Custom Black Cat Portrait Original Oil Painting by Diane Irvine Armitage

Today's black cat portrait is Jane's adorable Pepsi.  I have been wanting to paint this cute face since I saw Pepsi's photo on my Facebook page.  If you would like a custom 8 x 10 inch portrait of your black cat, just click on the Email Me button on the right on my blog!

The Lovely Annabelle - A Custom Cat Portrait in Oils by Diane Irvine Armitage

I am so lucky to have a lot of commissions to do custom cat portraits this week!  Thanks to a video that Chris from Cole & Marmalade posted on YouTube and Facebook, the video has generated a lot of interest in my painting!

Today's painting is for Stacy, a portrait of a very lovely black cat named Annabelle.  Annabelle's eyes were the most amazing color.  With greens and a beautiful blue, just amazing.  I very beautiful cat to paint, what a pleasure!

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

I have been getting great feedback on my new, softer painting technique.  I get much more dimension with the softer approach.  The emphasis is on the eyes with this painting!  Very mysterious, ready to put a spell on you!  This original oil painting of a black cat measures 10 x 8 inches on archival gesso board.  It is available HERE on ebay.

Mysterious Black Cat Original Oil Painting by Diane Irvine Armitage

Another day, another black cat painting!  I'm enjoying my new softer style.  I painted another black cat that I have painted in the past.  Nice to do several versions of the same pose to see what can be changed up.  This painting along with my other original cat paintings are available on ebay HERE.  Today's mysterious black cat painting measures 8 x 10 inches.

 The last version I painted of this pose was a 5 x 7 inch painting and was sold on ebay.

 Thanks for stopping by!

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

Another attempt at painting a softer painting.  I have painted this cat face two other times and I find it helpful to go back to something that I have painted when trying a new technique.  I lay in the painting very thinly and soften it up and then come back and put in some of the sketchier strokes.  I'm happy with this one!  It has a nice luminous look to it - like the eyes are coming forward out of the darkness.  This original oil painting of a black cat measures 8 x 10 inches on archival gesso board and is available on ebay HERE.

Below are the other two paintings I did of this same cat.

 11 x 14 on gesso board.

 24 x 36 on a birch panel.  I have this one hanging in my living room and I think it is my favorite version so far.

The Witch's Cat - Original Black Cat Oil Painting by Diane Irvine Armitage

Sometimes it is fun to paint the same image more than one time.  I have painted one photo of Tish at least four times and each time I learn something new.  Today's painting is one that I painted a while back.  I thought I would try to paint it as a softer version, but strangely enough it came out quite a bit like the original version!  Maybe my style just can't be softened so easily :-)  Here is today's version and below it the original version from a year or so ago.  Available on ebay HERE.

 

Black Cat Original Oil Painting by Diane Irvine Armitage

I wanted to go a bit softer with today's painting and I found it fun to do all the blending.  But I still keep areas sketchy for a little contrast.  This is a pose that I have painted before, but it is always nice to try new techniques with the same poses.  This painting is 6 x 6 inches on archival gesso board and can be found at my Ebay auctions HERE.

Black Cat Closeup Original Oil Painting by Diane Irvine Armitge

I haven't painted in a while!  Time to get back to it.  Today's painting is 6 x 6 inches and is painted from a cropped-in photo of one of my favorite black cats, Cole, of Cole and Marmalade fame.  Cole has beautiful eyes, so I concentrated on them and left the rest very understated.

You can find this original oil painting HERE on my ebay auctions.

Ebony a Black Cat Original Oil Painting by Diane Irvine Armitage

Today's painting is of a pretty black kitty I found on Petfinder named Ebony AKA Eboneezer (love that name!).  You can read more about Ebony here - maybe you can adopt him!  This original oil painting measures 5 by 7 inches and is available on my ebay auctions HERE.

Thanks for taking a look!

Two Headed Black Cat Original Oil Painting by Diane Irvine Armitage

Today's painting is of a two-headed Tish!  I'm going to be using this painting for my holiday window display at my booth, Pandora's Parlor.  Yes, a cat with two heads is going to fit right in with my twisted Christmas theme, don't ask how ... you'll see!

 This original oil painting is 16 x 20 inches and will be available for sale after the first of the year.

Edgar Allen Poe - Black Cat Annabel Lee Original Oil Painting by Diane Irvine Armitage

Today's black cat painting is done from a photo of my customer Patty's beautiful black cat Annabel Lee.  Such a pretty kitty Annabel is!  Just a really striking black cat with lovely green eyes.  Patty commissioned me to paint a portrait of Annabel and this was one of the photos Patty sent me.  A closeup photo to show Annabel's collar, but I just loved the pose of Annabel in this so I had to paint this as well as the commission.

This was the commissioned portrait I did of Annabel Lee for Patty ...

And fun in the studio today as my kitties Tish and Luna explore all the dusty corners whilst I paint.

 The intrepid Tishy, always looking for an adventure.

 Hanging out on Pandora's cat climber.

 And Miss Lou getting her pretty face into the picture.

 

A good day in the studio with the ladies!

Three Eyed Black Cat Painting by Diane Irvine Armitage

Finally the weather is not topping 100 degrees, so back into the studio for some fun.  I painted the blue-green fescue grass that the 3-eyed black cat is looking through.  I'm happy with this one and plan on doing more fantasy and surreal paintings in the future.

This painting is available on my ebay auctions HERE.

3 Eyed Black Cat Original Oil Painting by Diane Irvine Armitage

Here is my progress so far on this three-eyed cat painting.  It is Tish in the garden, but with an extra eye : - )  Once it is dry, I want to add some thin grass in front of her.

 Original oil painting on archival gessoboard, 8 x 10 inches.

Black Cat Extreme Closeup - Original Oil Painting by Diane Irvine Armitage

Today's (and yesterday's) painting endeavor is a very large, 24 x 48" canvas with a closeup of a black cat.  I have painted this cat before (Nancy's cat) and this is a variation on a theme.  Another painting for the booth at Pandora's Parlor.

 You can see more of my black cat paintings on Ebay HERE.

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.

Two Black Cats - Original Oil Painting by Diane Irvine Armitage

Not one black cat today, but two!  This pair of black cats was fun to paint.  I kept the front cat very simple and focused my attention on the black cat in the back that was catching the sunlight.  My favorite part of this painting is the front cat's eye - very sketchy and interesting colors, but quite simple.  This is a larger painting, 24 x 24 inches on gallery-wrapped canvas.  This one is destined for the antiques booth as soon as it dries.

Check out all of my black cat paintings on Pinterest HERE.

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.

Sketchy, Loose Original Oil Painting of a Black Cat by Diane Irvine Armitage

Another painting of a black cat (no surprises there!).  Keeping it loose and sketchy.  This one has a tail that is moving in the background - fun to do!

Today's painting is 8 x 8 inches on archival canvas board and is available on my ebay auctions HERE.