Nibbler
This is a painting of my wife’s cat Nibbler (soon to be the kids’ cat), made to commemorate her goodest boy. He’s taken the “man of the house” label to heart and he wears it like a proper, cranky older gentleman. He knows what he likes and he’s going to get it, whether that’s treats or flopping over for some belly scritches.
I started this at the tail end of my sabbatical and continued through the rest of the week. I took the digital “brush economy” approach of adding a layer, making marks with a big, chunky brush, then feathering with an eraser to shape them before merging back down to the base layer. I have to say, I’m quite happy with the results!
It took me a while to find the right balance between warm and cool hues in the scene, and to find the right ways to suggest form in the broad black & white patches of fur. I think all of that came together pretty well. Near the end I decided he wasn’t standing out from the environment enough, so I pushed that into the distance to better frame my subject.
Incidentally, this is not Nibbler’s first appearance on this site. He also engaged in some illicit smooching last year. That rogue!
Medium: Digital
App: Artstudio Pro
Tools: Digital 3D brush, a tiny bit of airbrushing