A Kitten in Watercolor

It was fun to create this kitten in watercolor, in response to  requests from subscribers on my Youtube channel about how to paint cat fur – something that confounded me for a long time.

This is a 5″ x 7″ watercolor painting on Arches Cold Press paper, based on a reference photo by Victoria Bowker.

I love cats, but painting them was frustrating – the fur always ended up looking awkward, and I couldn’t figure out why. I finally worked out that the key is to be aware of the contour, shape, and length of the fur. It’s not just a series of straight lines and diagonals, which is what I used to do. Each part of the face has different fur length and direction.

Let’s look at the details of the fur using Victoria Bowker’s reference photo.

•  The forehead – fur in the center of the forehead is pretty much vertical, but either side aims outward and upward from the center, towards the ears.
• The nose – the fur on the top of the nose is very short, and as it moves up towards the forehead it gradually lengthens and aims outward toward the ears.
• Edges of the eyes – take a close look at the fur direction – an upward curve, outward. Notice especially, right above the eyes, how the fur arcs up a bit.
• Directly below the eye, the fur is short and stubby. It follows the shape of the eye, aiming outward.
• The cheeks – the fur on the cheeks is longer and starts to curve downward
• The fur on the body is longer and aims downward and outward.

Here are some step by step photos of the process.

The initial sketch is first.

The second photo demonstrates the initial washes, all wet on dry.

• Watery Yellow Ochre over the entire head, avoiding the eyes.
• When the yellow is dry, a watery pink mix of Yellow Ochre/Permanent Rose over the nose and around the mouth.
• Watery Cerulean Blue in the eyes, working carefully around the highlights.
• Watery Burnt Sienna on the top of the nose.

The third photo is a map of the fur using watery mixes of brown and grey.

• The watery grey is a mix of Ultramarine Blue/Burnt Umber, more blue than brown.
• The watery brown is a mix of Burnt Sienna/Burnt Umber.
• When applying the fur, be aware of the length and contour. You can follow this map as the painting progresses.
• The inner ear is a pink mix of Yellow Ochre/Permanent Rose. To create the purple, add some Cerulean blue to the pink mix.
• The lightest fur markings in the whiter areas are watery grey – you can hardly see them, but they are important in creating texture.

 

 

 

 

Back to the eyes

• Drop in Cerulean Blue, creamy to milky consistency, around the outer edges of the eyes. This will help to create the roundness of the eye.
• When the blue is dry, outline the eye with a black mix of Ultramarine Blue/Burnt Umber (more blue than brown), milky consistency.
• Use the same black to reinforce darker areas of the nose.

Now it’s time to put in the darkest hues. Doing this now will aid in balancing the mid-tones (between the darkest and lightest.)

• The dark stripes, the edges of the ears – I used a thick black mix of Ultramarine Blue/Burnt Umber – sometimes with more blue, at other times with more brown.
• Reinforce the Burnt Sienna on the nose – creamy consistency.

 

 

 

 

 

Mid-tones – Glaze – Reinforce Darks – Mid-tones again – Glaze again

• Now that the darks are placed, the mid-tones are added, to create balance between the darkest and lightest areas, using mixes of brown and black, creamy consistency.
• Watery glazes are gently placed to smooth the fur and unify the colors.
• When dry, it’s necessary to go back in to reinforce the darks again.
• Final details are placed in the eye, and the dark around the eye is reinforced.
• Darks and lights will begin to look unbalanced again, but that is part of the process.
• After the darkest areas, go back in with the mid-tones again.
• One more watery glaze over the entire face (except for the eyes), again to unify and smooth.

 

 

 

 

Final Steps

• Reinforce details.
• Add the whiskers!
• Sign it!
• You can see the full video on my Youtube channel!