Bronze cat painting 2

 

Painting of Bronze Cat update

I have had a few disruptions to stop me finishing this painting. Some were minor distractions. For example, today I had an idea about doing sketches from life, and I wondered if anyone made shopping trolleys with a seat, so instead of painting, I researched them. There were a few styles and now I need to decide the best seat height. 

I have finished the Connemara marble and I am happy with what I have done with the tiger's eye. Today I have been working on the fool's gold. I raised the crystals up on small camera tripod so that they would catch the light in the same way as they did in my original composition. You can see two of the crystals on the left. 

If you are wondering what they are sitting on, I set a nut of the right thread for a camera tripod into the back of the piece of wood to make an easel for miniatures. Then recently I converted it so it would hold my iPod Touch for taking special photos. The green stuff is Sugru which is great stuff to play with and make things. I have just adapted another table easel with a drawer to be able to attach it to a larger tripod by sticking a nut to the underneath with Sugru. Sugru is very good for sticking things. I will write a post about it if it works. 

To get back to the artwork, there is less to do than you may think. The main thing is the shadows. They may take a while because of getting the soft edges. 

  

Painting of a bronze cat.

 

Painting of a bronze cat. 

This little bronze statue of an Egyptian cat was given to me by a friend who had treasured it for a long time. I promised her a painting of it in exchange.  

I worked out a still life composition with crystals. I am not sure what the crystals are, except for the lumpy "fool's gold" in the centre and the big grey lump which is unpolished Connemara marble. 

The painting of the cat figure has been done for some time but I am finding the Connemara marble a challenge. I am painting layers upon layers in little dots of greys with hints of green and yellow. It is taking hours. I take as long as I need to get it right. 

I have painted Connemara marble before but that was in pastel on textured paper. This time I am working in Acryl gouache on a very smooth surface so I have to paint the texture rather than letting the materials suggest it for me. 

The texture isn't the biggest challenge. It is hard to describe such an irregular shape. 

The rounded polished stones will be easy. I am a little bit worried about the fool's gold. I don't think it will be as difficult as the Connemara marble. It has flat facets which are easier to depict even if the shape is irregular.