How to Paint a Cat - Step 1

Thank you to Michael below for requesting a lesson. I will do my best to help you Michael. I don't know if you have a particular cat in mind but for this exercise I have used my own cat, for reference.
I suggest starting by painting a nice coloured ground. This will govern the atmosphere for the rest of your image. I've used a soft pink to suggest a still, calm feeling and it also subtly suggests a desire for strawberry milk to the viewer.

Cats are well know for being bad still-standers and so you might find it helpful to fix your cats feet to the floor in some way. Baggy made quite a fuss when I did this so I quickly painted his legs first and then let him go.

I Am Here For You

If you are struggling with any area of painting or would like me to create a tutorial on how to paint something specific that you are having trouble with please feel free to get in touch with your suggestions. I am here for you.

How to paint a dog shit - step 6

"Sfumato is one of the four canonical painting modes of the Renaissance (the other three being Cangiante, Chiaroscuro, and Unione). It corresponds to the concept of 'low-contrast' in photography. The Italian word sfumato (pp. of sfumare, 'to vanish' or 'to shade') captures the idea precisely. The finished product appears as though a veil of smoke had drifted between the subject of the painting and the viewer"

Use a dry brush and some remaining shit colour to add some sfumato to your painting.

How to paint a dog shit - step 5

So here we are. This is probably the part you've been looking forward to the most. Today we are going to paint the dog shit itself.

As you will know the colour of dog shit can vary from black to green to white and anything in between so for me to suggest a colour for you would serve no purpose other than to stifle your creativity.

Stand at arms length from your painting. Position your loaded brush firmly in the middle of your canvas. Close your eyes. Visualise the size, the weight, the texture, the droop of the peak and release your dog shit.



Now just excentuate those folds.



We're almost done. In the next lesson we'll add the finishing touches. until then time oh rev wa.

How to paint a dog shit - step 4

The next step is to paint the sun and it's rays. Start by painting a circle for the sun itself. You may need a compass if you find this difficult. The rays around the sun shouldn't just look like lines, one should almost feel them radiating out of the picture. Unfortunately this is not an easy effect to achieve nor is it easy to explain how it is achieved. The only advice I can give is try not to restrain your emotions.

How to paint a dog shit - step 3

Today we're going to paint the ground upon which our dog shit will sit. I'm going to hand over this lesson to the great Winslow Homer.

"You have the sky overhead giving one light; then the reflected light from whatever reflects; then the direct light of the sun; so that, in the blending and suffusing of these several luminations, there is no such thing as a line to be seen anywhere."

Next we'll add some detail. Using a small brush and a delicate touch introduce some individual blades of grass. These blades are important to capture the essence of a slight summer breeze in our painting.

NB. You might not have realised it but you have just painted a landscape and you may find that it makes a beautiful painting as it is. Don't be afraid to hang this one up and start another one to paint the dog shit on.

How to paint a dog shit - step 2

It's usually best to start from the background and work forward. You will see why as we progress. So the first thing to do is paint the sky not only because it is in the background but because the sky is the source of light in Nature and it governs everything including our dog shit.

Mix a cobalt blue with a little white and if you're painting in the afternoon add a little yellow, not cadmium it's too strong, I suggest a naples yellow would give us the subtlety and warmth we're looking for.

Allow to dry.

Masterclass No. 1 How To Paint a dog shit - Step 1

welcome along to the first masterclass of the blog. how to paint a dog shit. so get your paintbrushes ready. here we go.

first of all, as with any painting, it is absolutely unforgivable to make a mistake. once you've made a mistake you can't go back. here is an example of an earlier attempt i made to paint a dogshit where i made a mistake. as you can see - irreversible disaster.


So the first lesson - be careful!