Luminous Cat Eyes – Tabby Cat Pastel Practice

Today it felt like it was that Monday in January that they call Blue Monday, and it’s supposed to be the most miserable day of the year or something like that, except it’s the middle of February! Maybe it’s this latest lockdown that is getting me down or maybe it’s a combination of things but I’m tired, I’m not sleeping, I feel super stressed and I just feel like there’s a black cloud following me around. Last night I got a whole three hours of sleep but I still had to get up at the usual time because things to do. So I sat at the dining table, drinking coffee and feeling half asleep and decided to DO SOMETHING and so here’s what I did.

Do you ever watch those Youtube videos of people making cat paintings and they have these amazing luminous eyes and look like a photograph? They fascinate me – how what they are using – soft pastels – which are dusty and chalky, can turn into something with a luminous quality. So I sat at my dining table and I attempted to try it myself. I dusted off my set of Derwent Pastels (bought in Melbourne in 1994!) and had a go. The paper is wrong since I couldn’t find the pastelmat I know I have somewhere and the pastels are old but I spent three hours or so just adding tiny marks of pastel until I had something that sort of resembled my old kitty girl Miss P and it was a very meditative experience.

Here she is in her youth as a young kitty full of fun and energy…

This is her in her old age napping in the sun.

I think the eye area does look a lot like her and the nose, but the rest of the face is wrong somehow. Still it was an enjoyable way to pass the time and I will definitely try it again, maybe a whole face this time or a whole cat, if I can find the larger paper.

This is how I started, the paper is A5 size. I’m using white because the paper is dark but also because it’s easier to change mistakes.

Then I added the black bits and it started to look more like a cat.

I added more marks, I probably would have been better off if I had blocked a lot of it in black first but well, hindsight and all that.

It looks too freaky with the eyes not done, so I had to do those next.

Ah so much better! It might be a bit wonky but at least it looks like a cat lol.

I really like how her nose turned out, it looks just like hers. A little terracotta nose surrounded by black to match her paws.

I took more photos in the daylight as it was getting dark when I took those ones above.