Personal Art Blog

Sharing the lessons I teach at the Artist Guild and the personal discoveries in my art.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Watercolor Studies of Mr. Chomp


Looking for Lizards
unfinished watercolor study

It has been a long time, but I have painted Mr. Chomp before.
He belongs to dear friends and is a rescued cat
...saved from a nasty traffic accident 
after being discarded in the road when he was
about 2-3 weeks old. My friend stopped her car
and dodged the moving traffic to grab him safely up.

(There has to be a severe consequence somewhere 
along the line for people who casually discard animals)

Much loved and taken outside on a leash for an hour
each day, Mr. Chomp rewards everyone by being affectionate
 and entertaining.

Artist Note

Using a Moleskin book, I didn't draw first, 
but went right into using washes of color.
Mr. Chomp was not staying in one position for long
The paper is smooth and buckles slightly with watercolor.
it adds nicely to a bit of puddling.




 Mr. Chomp kept moving around in different positions, but finally...slept!!!


27 comments:

  1. Hi Julie, I love your paintings and studies of Mr. Chomp. He sounds like a pretty cool cat. Glad he was rescued by your friend!

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  2. Lovely cat studies, Julie!
    Very lively... love the fact that you directly use washes ( without pencil drawing)

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  3. Bonjour,
    Toutes vos études sont pleines de vie et j'aime ça !... M. Chomp a eu beaucoup de chance de vous rencontrer. Il a l'air d'écouler une vie tranquille auprès de vous.

    ❁ Gros bisous ❁

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  4. Love these fresh studies in your Moleskine journal! They have that perfect yin/yang balance of 'delicate & strength' to them.

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  5. How much fun to do something different.....like playing, isn't it. Fun to see.

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  6. Nice and interesting paintings of very cute cats !!!
    Have a nice day Julie !!!

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  7. Beautiful studies, you have captured the feline movement of Mr. Chomp! Cats are such lovable animals and I'm so happy he found a good home.

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  8. These are wonderful, atmospheric studies. I particularly like the color & composition of LOOKING FOR LIZARDS. As someone who has raised a lot of abandoned cats, I agree that there should be some sort of karmic payback for people who consider pets a disposable commodity. Folks who do that generally don't respect other people much either!

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  9. You are a master of all mediums, Julie. Mr. Chomp is wonderful!

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  10. This is a wonderful study, Julie! I imagine its not easy with watercolor but such an amazing job...I especially love Mr. Chomp looking for lizards!!! I cannot imagine hurting an animal in "any" way and it always sickens me to hear stories like this... if someone hurts an animal, they would probably hurt people!!

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  11. Love the multiple sketches of Mr. Chomp, Julie! Reminds me of when I spent a total of many hours sketching four toy poodles over the years.
    These are well done water colors!

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  12. Rescue cats are the best and I love this charming blog. OK Okay I know I'm a cat freak and you are so good at painting them, you should do more.

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  13. Love the attitude of Mr Chomp looking outside. Yours sketch are so fresh and Ms Chomp is a sweety cat, it reminds me of my cat who was an abandoned one and find a home in my house. He also have damaged due to a car and had lost some abilities to move since his bad meet. I love sketching him with graphite but never as tried directly with watercolor.

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  14. Love the story and happy ending for Mr. Chomp as well as the beautiful painting. I belong to Urban Sketchers herein Seattle and really enjoy seeing the sketch books of others.

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  15. These are all just lovely Julie x

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  16. You know I am partial to orange cats! Well done.

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  17. Such nice studies, Julie! I really like that you jumped right in without drawing. That approach rewards us with a lovely sense of spontaneity and life!

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  18. love Mr. Chomp looking for lizards (yuck! haha) and all your studies too. I always remember a bumper sticker that read: "who was the one who was really rescued?" (along with a logo of a dog and cat). People are just as rescued by the ones they rescue...for sure! :)

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  19. You can see your affection for Mr. Chomp shine through! Really enjoy the moleskin sketches of a moving model, capturing just enough. I also really enjoyed seeing the work of your students.

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  20. Wow. These are lovely and totally captivating. You used the immediacy of the medium so perfectly to capture gesture and personality.

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  21. Julie - who could resist painting this Mr. Chomp...he would certainly inspire me. Love seeing your various studies too. You are so good to capture him while moving about. Hope you are having a great week- enjoy the week end!

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  22. Was touched by the story of Mr. Chomp. Beautiful painting of him and the studies too. Hope you will have a happy weekend.

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  23. A gorgeous composition in "Looking for Lizards". Love all the studies and they are particularly fresh looking because of not drawing first. Enjoyed hearing about Mr. Chomp's background. A lovely post Julie!

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  24. Mr. Chomp is one lucky kitty and you have painted him with just as much love and care.

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  25. I love the pose of Mr. C - what a nice story - she takes him our on a leash for an hour, sounds like something I should do with my studio cats, who I rescued - many cats in my farm area, don't make it, due to predation..I think a getting a harness and leash is in order. BTW - if it were me - I would leave that top one just as it is, I like the vignette! And thanks for stopping by my blog!

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  26. Great study... Unfinished?, I like as this.

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  27. From flowers to cats, a nice leap. Unfinished, only in your eye.

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I love that you are taking the time to comment and thank you for it. I am sure other readers will enjoy them too. If you cannot comment through this format then email me at juliefordoliver@gmail.com
Cheers,
Julie