How To Paint A Cat Lady

Using reference photos that the client has sent to me, I create a thumbnail sketch on graph paper to work out composition and possible color combinations.

I use a very thinned down mixture of yellow and red to create a peach for skin tones (add a little burnt sienna for darker complexions)

I start darker at the forehead, then add water to lighten the peach-tone as I work down to the chin.

While the peach tone is still damp, I add diluted red on the cheeks and feather it out to fade into the peach. The dampness helps the pink diffuse and soften...The man's cheeks are more subtle with just a hint of pink,,,

I use watered-down burnt sienna to add faint shadows on the neck and hands to add a little dimension..

Next I paint the hair...I mix yellow with just a touch of brown and make a thin wash for the blonde hair. For the dark brown hair, I've mixed burnt sienna with just a bit of ultramarine blue

While the purple is still wet, I blend in some thalo blue at the lower edge of the purple, then work in more thalo blue as I go down. Remember to keep paint nice and wet and runny. To make green, I mix a little thalo blue into my lemon yellow and start working that into the lower edge of the thalo, carrying it all the way to the bottom.

I continue detailing each person and each cat and before you know it, I'm ready for the finishing touch...

So what are you waiting for? Get out those paint brushes right now and have some fun! Just remember to take your time, do one step at a time, and if you goof up, it's only paper and it's okay to try, try again as many times as you want to (as long as you remember to recycle all that paper)!