Katie-cat by Jo Harris

I admire your bravery in attempting a difficult painting. I love the colours and the looseness of it and I can see exactly what you wanted to achieve. I think it has worked really well, but might have been even better if you had painted the whole face of the cat as although the eyes are excellent, it just makes me feel that I want to see more. This is just a personal view and doesn't make me right, of course.

Thea.. difficult was the word..I don't do underdrawing, because I find I lose the freshness of the painting, but, depending on the subject, I pick something prominent, and get it on the paper. In this case, the eyes. Straight from the tube onto the paper, then a little manipulation with the brush. And then I worked the fur and shape, wetting, blotting and manipulating until I was reasonably happy. I had intended to do the whole face, and, indeed, the whole cat, but it just wasn't coming together. In the end, I decided that any more work would make it overpainted, and another attempt is required :) Comments very welcome...I am quite unsure of myself.