Paintings With Soul

"LuLu," 8" square, commissioned seal point long haired cat portrait in acrylic on canvasboard. LuLu's painting joins a handful of my other portraits in a private collection - it's so fascinating to see the "families" of dog-a-day paintings that have assembled during the past 16 months. LuLu's is an especially endearing family, containing several of my favorite pieces. Yes, she is NOT a dog, but once you get over that part, don't you just love the color in her? Even though she is essentially a deep velvety brown and cream, I found all sorts of reds, orange, yellow, blue and violet to exploit too. And those eyes - they were especially important. LuLu is the sort of cat who behaves like a dog, so it was key that I paint her eyes engaging, bright with intelligence, and brimming with personality (not that ALL cats don't have these same traits - it's just that many choose to keep those sorts of things under wraps, so to speak). Making the e...

“Untitled Kitten,” 6” square, seal point kitten portrait in casein on hardboard. I often talk about the things that I am studying – the human form, landscape, color temperature, you name it. Well today I decided to show you one of my “lessons.” This is a little 6” square painting done in casein on hardboard. Casein is a milk derivative paint with some unique qualities. For one, it’s opaque, so there is no transparency to the layers of color. This is a big challenge to someone who is used to building on what’s already been laid down. Casein also dries practically 2 seconds after it hits the surface. So there is no pushing or pulling the paint around – once it’s down, it’s down. Again, another challenge to someone who likes to let loose brushwork steer the direction of her paintings. However, casein lends itself to a quiet and thoughtful painting session, almost like meditation. And I can use a small watercolor palette to mix colors. Once they dry on the palette, they can be revived with...