I started this sleeping kitten painting with a pencil drawing on canvas, and painted all the lines and shadows in black.
Next, I filled in the base colors, using mostly darks but saving the white areas on the face for last. The brushstrokes are swirly, vague, and messy at this point, and it feels like this painting is going places! The next steps, such as filling in the details of light and shadow, fine hairs, whiskers, the delicate pink nose, and feathery background texture, are more nerve-wracking because I am a perfectionist. I have to push hard at this point to get through to the end instead of being too afraid to continue. The great thing about acrylics and oils are that you can "mess up" over and over and just keep layering paint. I just haven't gotten that into my controlling, perfectionistic head yet!
The final painting, "Sleeping Kitten," available for sale on etsy.com!
https://www.etsy.com/shop/sallybarone
