Daily Sketch Reprise: Chocolate Bath, 2018

March 3, 2019 Bernadette

Chocolate Bath, 6.5 x 6.5, © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

It’s a little painting of a little black cat. I love to paint Mimi, I think because she is so self-aware and nearly all her poses are graceful and inspiring. Possibly it’s just because I love her so much.

Black cats have many colors in their fur. The warm sun shows off Mimi’s mahogany highlights and makes her look positively solid chocolate. I photographed Mimi at her bath in morning sun several years ago for this pose, but any of the many I’ve photographed are all favorites. This one won the contest for which was most paintable.

I also especially liked this angle for her face, and this composition with her on the edge of the art. She was right next to the basement door frame. I painted in the door frame but didn’t like the bit I’d included as looking slightly confusing, and where I thought the geometric shape would coordinate with the geometry on the floor and both set off Mimi’s soft curves and colors, it was too strong a presence and I cropped it out. So it’s just Mimi in the sun.

The biggest challenge is to paint a dark on dark composition with a black cat against a dark background, but Mimi is in warm tones of black and deep sienna and even purple and vermilion, while the background is a cool black with blends of cool violet, green and navy blue.

I’d intended these monthly desktop calendars to showcase new as well as existing artwork. This is my painting from Day 23 of the February 2018 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge. See other paintings in this and other painting challenges on the page Creative Challenges. I love these painting challenges for encouraging me to create new works.

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Copyright

All images and text used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission, although links to your site are more than welcome and are shared. Please ask if you are interested in using and image or story in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of an image or a product including it, check my animal and nature website Portraits of Animals to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item.