March 5, Estrella and Naldo

Wow, did I have fun painting this one-   the light, the angles, and the look on Naldo's face...

Painting on black like I do means that you need to make adjustments constantly on darks and lights. And acrylic paint has a tendency to dry dark, so you also have to take that into consideration. With this painting, I was trying to keep the deck surface looking light enough to suggest wood and warmth, and I had to make it lighter three times!

Of course, the glory of this one is that the photo was such a great one.  Sometimes I worry about painting from a great photo because it is already wonderful... What can I possibly add?  But a painting does do something that a photo just can't do.

Can you tell I am really pleased with this one?

Joe sent the photo with this note~

"Not sure if you know but we had to say goodbye to our precious Naldo in early December. He developed tumors in his lung and liver, and we had to put him to sleep. We miss him dearly, even though we had him for less than 4 years. So, now we just have one kitty, Estrella--whom we've had for almost 11 years.

Attached is a photo of them from last fall. Naldo is in front."

8x10

spoken for