"Boonie"

with running Turp background

by Marci Blattenberger

FIRST FIRE:

BOONIE...Ears - painted with medium value pink , shaded with Warm Shadow ( or an iron-based red mixed with a medium value gold-based pink with a touch of blue added)...wipe out fur on inside corners with a fine wipeout tool
Eyes - light wash of a light green ...shade with meddium value green ....outline with dark brown ... paint in pupil with dark brown and black mixed... pull sharp highlight with wipe out tool
Nose and Mouth - same colors as ears
Shadows on fur- a misture of the colors used in the background ( medium value gold-based pinks, purples and a cobalt-type blue ) . Boonie is a fluffy cat so I didnt pull out fur texture. Instead , I painted the fur shadows in patches and made sure the edges of the shadows were uneven...
Pull out whiskers with fine wipe out tool

SECOND FIRE:

Cover entire cat with masking fluid . I prefer blue masking fluid to the red resist. I have had troyble removing red resist from already fired paint. The blue resist is latex based and will peel off easily from fired paint and lusters as well as bisque , cleans up easily with soap and water and dries like a rubber band which lets you peel it off easily . You need a good solid coat . If it's too thin, it will not peel easily ... if its too heavy , it will take a long time to dry ...

Once the resist is dry , lay out your chosen background colors onto a large tile. It's best to use colors that will mix well... complimentary colors will grey each other out...so pick colors that are adjacent on the color wheel (analogous colors )
You can either pull paint off your palette or use powdered paints... You can use either turp .. or if you have allergies to turp, you can use lamp oil. Turp will give you sharper edgws runa... lamp oil will be a slightly softer effect . I used lamp oil on this piece.

Thin the paints on the tile with the lamp oil or turp until it is very soupy . With a large brush , wash large patches of color onto the background of the piece, taking care to leave enough unpainted spaces between the patches so that you have room for the colors to mingle together.

Dip the brush into the lamp oil or turp and drip it into the paint while tipping the piece in all different directions. The paint will start to run and blend...Tip and tilt the piece , adding more turp or lamp oil as needed until youre pleased with the effect....then lay it flat to dry ....( a hair drier will help this.. and can be a good idea. Otherwise, sometimes the patterns keep mingling together and you lose the effect .

Once the paint has started to set up, you can wipe out some little designs in the background. The way the paint ran in this painting reminded me of branches... so I wiped out a few subtle little blossoms to enhance that effect .

Once the paint has dried completely , carefully peel off the masking.
Clean off the edges of the cat if needed.

Re-paint detail on the cat as needed... ( the eyes , ears, nose and mouth will usually need a little more depth ) ...