A cat purring on your lap is more healing than any drug in the world. – St. Francis of Assisi
"Fritz", 9x12", pastel on Canson Velvet Pastel Paper by Annie Dash Studios
Fritz came to us last year as a stray kitten and charmed our boys so much that we decided to keep him. He has since become a family favorite.
When my son requested that I teach him about pastel painting, his desired subject to capture was Fritz. This was actually my first cat pastel portrait, as well. For our photo reference, I took a photo of our feline friend relaxing on the loft area above our foyer:
In preparation for the art lesson, I created a sample pastel portrait. I used PanPastels to produce a painterly look for the underpainting of the body, face, and background. I then added layers of Rembrandt pastel sticks, and pastel pencils for all the detail work. I softened the background with pinks, violets, taupes, and even touches of turquoise, along with white and grey.
Here is a process video of me working on a few of the different layers:
I truly enjoyed creating this beautiful portrait, and am very happy with the end result! I believe that pastel portraits have the ability to capture the essence of not only how people (and pets) look, but who they are.
As they say, time is fleeting, but art endures. I hope that my children enjoy this portrait of Fritz as a young cat, many happy years from now!
I hope that you enjoy this work as well -- if so, please be sure to leave a comment below.
If you're interested in booking your own Pastel Pet Portrait or Fine Art Portrait, please get in touch!
Annie Dash Studios is a portrait artist and painter serving New Albany, Indiana and beyond with commissioned and original realistic fine art pastel, watercolor, and acrylic paintings.