It's Done!!!

I took some excellent advice from members of the WetCanvas community and added a thin glaze of burnt sienna over the tail and hind quarters to give it more depth. As one individual remarked "the tail looked like it was growing from the cat's head". Too true. I feel like the adjustment has fixed that problem for the most part, and has also helped the composition a great deal by pulling more attention to the cat's face. I haven't signed it yet, but I'm willing to call it done now. In a few months I'll varnish it and it should be ready for a frame, or sale...

Almost Done

It's so close to being finished now that I think I might set it aside for a little bit before I call it really done. There are a few finished touches that need to be attended to, but for now I've become so weary of looking at it that I need another diversion for a while.

Here he is again...

Quite a bit further along now. I took about an inch off it's back since the last photo was taken, and I feel like the proportions are now much more accurate. Gave him some whiskers because I was tired of looking at that area and feeling like something was terribly missing. I'm still not too happy with the tail, I'm having a hard time finding a balance between a softer look since it's further from the viewer and the same crazy detail as the face. There are so very many things I think I'd do differently now, and as I'm nearing completion, I'm becoming only somewhat satisfied with the finished product. But this is the first painting of a cat that I've ever done, and I've never before attempted the fur look with anything else, so I'm trying not to get frustrated with myself. I still don't have much of a "style" since this is only the third oil painting I've taken this close to completion. I think I might want to work a great deal "looser" than this in the future.

Speaking of the future, I think my next project will be a four panel series of orchids. Something using my own reference material that I can actually market. :)

Sorry about the ugly glare in the photo by the way, some of the paint is still very wet.

More Clouded Leopard

Here's the current status after last night's work. I feel like it's finally starting look like the whole animal and it has more of a body. The whole thing feels less like a disembodied head to me. I'm frustrated by the tail and the cat's hind portions. Those areas in my reference photo are out of focus, so my hope with this was to use the same effect. However, my attempts at that thus far have been less than satisfying. I've seen some artists place objects outside of the focal point out of focus, especially with wildlife art, but it seems I'm not one of those artists that can do that successfully, at least not with this piece. I'm also not happy with the curve of his rump on the top right hand corner, so I think I'm going to cut into it a little bit when I go over the background again. As it is, if one were to follow the line of it's back beyond the edge of the painting I think the current proportions would make it look a little humpback. I'm hoping that streamlining that space will slim him down a bit. Any C & C's welcome.