Just in time for Halloween!

I met Christina at a Small Business meetup group last month and a few weeks later, she contacted me about painting her cat, Ella. I haven’t met many professional trombone players and her love of jazz makes her cat’s name a perfect choice.

This is my first time painting a cat, and since Ella is entirely black, I knew it was going to be a challenge!

I normally like to use black paper, but in this case I went with a neutral gray so I could play up the lights and darks in her fur as needed.

She gave me several photos, but Ella’s eyes are entirely white in the pose I liked best, so I found a few photos of cat eyes that look very similar as well as some closeups of Ella’s eyes to use when I get to that part of the painting.

At this point in my painting process, I am filling in her body and head with blacks and dark grays, trying to emphasize different parts of the anatomy using subtle value changes.

More progress to come…