Step 1, Cat Portrait in Oils

I did my initial rough sketch of the cat last night on my cradle board. Sometimes I do the actual drawing with the paint but this time I did it with conte' crayon and pastels. I will isolate this layer and then block in the big shapes.

On Friday I will be at my studio for Open Studios. I plan on having some hands on activities for people browsing thru the gallery and studios. One activity I thought to do would be drawing and finger painting. :) I love doing my initial drawings by using my fingers! Even with the drawing above I worked the pastels around first with my fingers. Helps to just get the big shapes first.

I enjoy including people in the process of these commissioned portraits if they enjoy that kind of thing. For some people its hard to envision the finished product and for others they like watching it come together. I think, if nothing else than it brings people into the creative process and cultivates an appreciation for art in general. I guess that's my hope anyways! On my end I do it because it is good for me to break up the solitary activity of painting so thank you for following along!

For more information on my art or studio please visit http://www.suesteiner.com/