An unusual perspective

Original Watercolour

15cm x 30cm

"Clocked"

There are some obvious things in this painting that make it appealing and there are some less obvious points that help to make the painting work.    It's such a great thing to consider everything when painting as you have such power with the ability to use artistic licence.

• Composition.  Head tilted upwards.  Lots of white paper above the head with two watercolour "drips" (painted upside down) which should lead your eye to the eyes.
• Tone - dark tone placed behind the right side of the face gives the impression of strong light falling on the up-turned face.
• Colours are quite muted and greyish which helps to make the more colourful green eyes and pink nose stand out.
• Less obvious.......can you see the dark left side to the ear.  This dark tone is painted alongside paper which was deliberately left white.   This has the effect of clearly defining the shape of the kittens head and ear.
• The shadow under the chin contains  raw sienna which "warms up" and unifies the painting.

The photograph from which I painted the kitten was a quick snap taken by my son on his mobile phone, a brief moment captured when the kitten turned her head.

What followed afterwards with the creation of the painting, was a process of translation of key points onto the paper.  Sometimes you simply have to ask yourself why you like a photograph and how can you translate the key features in a simple yet effective way.

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