SnipFest is this weekend, at which I am vending, and I had hoped to be able to bring at least a couple of new things to offer.  I set Fluffy aside, and started going through my photos of my cats for inspiration.  All 3 of my aging cats are rescues.  I’m not sure of Meep’s origin, but I had seen a few cats loose in our area that look like him after I adopted him from the local Humane Society.  Coco, I was told, was one of a bucket full of kittens found on the side of the road.  Rowdy was a feral who latched onto me after he’d been neutered, had his ear clipped, and then been released back to the area he was caught – a practice I learned of when I took him in to see the vet the first time.

 I had a little photo shoot with them.  Rowdy was happy to assist.

Rowdy climbing up my body for a snuggle. If this had sound, you could hear his Very Loud Purr.

I did get a couple good ones of him, but I’m starting with one I got of Coco (the little tabby and white cat you can see behind Rowdy).  Meepy decided not to interrupt his nap.

I decided to do some “Scrap Cats”:  painting and/or drawing my leftover scrap cats on leftover scraps of mat board.  (I’ll donate 50% of the selling price to WeSnip, in honor of the work they do with feral cats, and cats from low-income families.)  I chose my scraps and my references, and broke out my old faithful gouache paints.

I haven’t used gouache in awhile, and I’m remembering why I love them so much, particularly for pet portraits!  They are very forgiving, endlessly re-workable and give incredible detail.  They are opaque watercolors, similar to the tempera paint used by the Wyeths, or that you used in kindergarten.  They dry to a matte finish, with intense pigments, and can be used on darker surfaces because they are opaque.  Painting on mat board is lots of fun.  Here’s where I am with Coco so far.

Scrap Cat: Coco Work in progress. Gouache on matboard. 7″ x 14.5″ ©Xan Blackburn, 2011