The Photo
Here is one of the original photos of Fiona, a lovely tuxedo cat. Her mama wanted me to paint her looking like royalty because her nickname is "Princess Fiona". We decided on a silver tiara and matching necklace with heart shaped jewels in pink and purple.

The Rough Sketch
Using regular drawing paper, I sketch out the layout for the painting using a drawing pencil. Once the layout is the way I want it I lightly draw the sketch onto the canvas.

The Background
The background of this painting is very abstract so not to take away from the portrait. I used pale pastel pink and purple colors and blended them with white. I just blended them around with my brush and drew some small heart shapes in the wet paint. While waiting for the background to dry I painted the under painting on the necklace and heart jewel.

The Eyes
I love to paint the cat's eyes!! That's when the painting really starts to come to life. I usually paint the eyes a little bit larger than they are in real life. I like the look that it gives to my paintings. I want the eyes to draw you in. I also finished the tiara and necklace. Adding their highlights, lowlights and other shiny details.

Color Blocking Fur and Markings
With black paint I block in the colors of her fur and shape the basic outline of her white face markings and chest by leaving those areas white. I painted the insides of her ears and added some of the fur details. I also put the gray shadows in the white fur on her chest and mouth.

The Completed Painting
In this final step I add more white fur to her chest and mouth giving it a wispy fur like texture. Also gray highlights on her face to keep it from looking to flat. I go over the edges of her fur with a black pen to give the fur a more wispy feel. Using white and silver pens I add the whiskers and wispy details to the edges of the white fur and face markings.