The Secret's Out!

At last, I can reveal what I was working on for a few weeks off and on during August and September. Penny & Toby over at Natural Attrill recently acquired Des.....

...a rather lively kitten. This is about the best photograph of him they sent me, the rest were a blur of fur!

They asked me if I would paint his portrait on a wooden box for Laurence, Penny's husband, Toby's dad. So I did! This is how it turned out....

This is the top view - I added a long length of red yarn for him to play with.

Here is another side view...

Jasper was very interested in my photography and managed to sneak in shot when I wasn't paying attention!

Oh dear, someone came and made a hole in the box one night...........

...look, there he is, the little blighter!


Here he is in close up - painting him inside the corner of the box seemed such a good idea...until I put it into practice! Talk about having to be a contortionist! I lined the box with pure silk upholstery fabric, and cut a matching hole to make it look as if the mouse had tunnelled all the way through.

The whole thing was painted in acrylics - I did the background first with several layers of indanthrene blue and emerald green, each layer adding to the depth of colour. Then the cat and mouse were painted as if it were a proper portrait - again a bit of a struggle having the box either on my lap or jammed between my knees. I only despaired once, when I had to carry the picture on over the side and corner of the box as well as keeping the perspective of Des's back legs correct. It took ages but I got there in the end.

I was really very sad to see this go, I had become very attached to Des the painting, but I am so glad it has gone to a lovely home.

If anyone else wishes something similar done..............please can you wait until after Christmas!!