How to Paint a Black Cat in Watercolor

You can view a taster video on my Youtube channel.

This tutorial is available with the monthly subscription, or as a single course.

Here’s the Process:

Step 1: Establish the main features – the eyes, ears, nose, and some of the mouth.

Use a watery grey mix of blue and brown, to outline the main features of the eyes, nose, and mouth, creating a map that can be followed in future applications.

Continue with the under painting – the lightest color that can be seen in the head and neck, starting with the yellow of the eye, and then pale, watery pink in parts of the nose and corners of the eyes.
The ear is a mix of pink, blue, purple, yellow, and some grey.

Step 2: Under Painting

Move to the under painting in the head and neck, first a pale blue, and then grey.
This is the lightest color that can be seen underneath the fur.
During this process, I’m planning ahead, mapping shapes to use as a guide in future applications.

Step 3: Refine the Eye, Darkest Shapes

Next, I’ll revisit the eye with deeper yellow. View the eye tutorial free of charge!
You can see step by step photos of the eye in my previous blog post.
As the eye dries, I’ll lay out the darkest shapes in the head and neck using a watery grey.
Further refine the eye with brown and black.

Step 4: Deepen Darks, Map Shapes

Continue to deepen the darkest parts and map shapes, applying the beginnings of fur markings and textures.
This is a watery to milky consistency.
Create the little whisker markings in the cheek.
Little by little, shapes are connected and values deepened.

Step 5: Fur Markings, Deepen Darks, Refine Ear

Step 6: Finer Hair Markings, Deepen Values, Smooth Textures

Deepen the mid-tones, creating depth and contour, along with smoother transitions from black to grey.
Apply finer, more detailed fur markings, being aware of the length and contour of the hairs.
Deepen values and adjust texture and shapes so there’s a smooth transition from dark to mid-tone to light values.

Step 7: Smooth Textures

Apply plain water over all black areas and the ear, to smooth the textures just a bit.
When this has dried, reinforce areas that need to go darker in value or need additional texture.

Step 8: Final Steps