Jack's World (Pond Picture)

For this piece, I wanted to capture my neighborhood cat in a more realistic way while the background was more abstract. I wanted there to be a stark contrast. I accomplished my goals by using acrylic paint. My painting is about color and composition. The most difficult challenge I had to face was the fact that I have never painted an animal before and I have very little experience with acrylics. I met this challenge by trying to paint over my mistakes and paying close attention to my reference image. My painting really works in the cat itself. In real life, the fur I painted looks fairly decent and I'm kinda proud of myself. Some things I learned were how to paint fur and how to work with acrylics. A mentor that I have learned from is Adam Riches. Though his style is wildly different from this painting, he taught me how to be more free in my art and to be more loose. A fellow student I learned from would be Lauren. I love her work ethic and how delicately she paints. I would love to be as careful and detailed as her someday. If I had to redo anything, I would try experimenting with a new background. I feel best about the colors I used and the way I painted Jack.