A Cat Called Marnie

This is Marnie, a rather regal looking ma'am who looks like she rules the roost. Her 'staff*' asked for a portrait to be painted and it's quite fitting I've finished her in the week of the Jubilee celebrations. The desired cerise/red background was painted first onto a 6x12" canvas panel before I sketched her in and added texture paste in the direction of her fur. After that had dried I blocked in the main areas of her black and white markings and continued to build up the layers of paint with a stiff hog hair brush, adding brown and blue as well as black into the dark areas of her coat. I paid special attention to her eyes which were tricky to judge as the flash had distorted the colour in most of the photos, but the green contrasts brilliantly with the background complementary colour. Finally I set about adding shine and the tiny details of her whiskers and stray white hairs with a fan brush and a fine rigger. * Great saying: 'Dogs have owners, cats have staff!'