Cat on a Mission (at San Antonio de Padua that is)

Cat on a Mission

6x6"

Oil on Gessoboard

To Bid

It's been a while since I've painted a 6x6 and I had a great time working small and on gessoboard again today.   I've had this photo reference since I visited the Mission of San Antonio de Padua 2 years ago.    My friend Daggi Wallace and I took part of a paint out weekend with CAC and got to meet some great artists and paint plein air.   This was the room we stayed in (no frills:) and there was just something about the light coming in through the window, the beautiful curtains and the angles of those bed that made for a really nice composition that I snapped a picture of.  

Here is the website for 

The Mission of San Antonio de Padua

I kept the image in my files and tested it out as a value study a while back.  This is a great tool we practiced in William Wray's workshop, really pairing it down to see what parts of your image can be pulled together into one shape.     It needed a focal point and the cat seemed a perfect choice.

 There actually was a cat that lived at the mission so it even made sense to put one in.

A fun day of painting!  And it didn't hurt that I got to spend the morning with 5 other fabulous painters in our Monday Morning Painters Group.

Happy Painting!

Sit and Go

6x6

Oil on Canvasboard

DPW

Here's another study for a larger piece.  It's kind of funny that I thought that it would be hard to see what it is, since I didn't put in a lot detail  - but I think it's pretty clear?...

What would happen with even less detail?  Something I could push a lot further with a larger piece.

On a different note, I want to thank Archana who came out from Dallas to paint with Daggi and me this weekend and was kind enough to be my guinea pig today as practiced sharing what I've learned.  She did an amazing job taking on some new painting exercises (among them 10-minute apples, thanks to Carol) and excelled very quickly!   It was such a pleasure to paint together!   And I learned that I can always get even more organized...what?...:-)  I look forward to seeing what Archana will paint next!

Time to Focus

Time to Focus

6x6

Oil on linen on panel

Study for larger painting

Loved the composition of this scene when I saw it and this was a quick study to prepare me for doing a larger piece...so much fun.   Going larger means I will have to focus more on how to apply the paint and create interesting areas with more texture, since I won't be describing them with a single brush stroke like here.

Exciting and a little intimidating.