April 4, 2010

"Sammy in the Sunshine"

Oil on museum quality ampersand gessobord panel 6" x 6"

Sammy has probably been thinking 'Hey, what am I chopped liver,?" since, hitherto, he has not been represented on this blog. J.J., Ella, and even little Shirley have all made it to stardom, but not Sam. It's not that I didn't think him worthy -far from it. Painting a black cat presents an artist with an interesting challenge. More often than not they are just a big black blob with piercing green eyes. Sitting in the sun changed that perspective and all his subtle coloration came to the fore and he positively glowed. Like Sammy says - "I gotta be me."

14 comments:

suzanneberry said...

Mark, this is stunning! Just beautiful. Painting a black cat is no challenge for you, at all!

Mark Adams said...

Thanks for the wonderful comment, Suzanne. It means a lot coming from you.

Kellie Marian Hill said...

*sigh* you're brilliant, man. I always love your work, but I have a similarly gorgeous cat- black blob with piercing green eyes :) I've tried to paint him several times and had convinced mysef it was impossible! this turned out beautifully :)

Diane said...

Sammy's "day in the spotlight" is quite terrific...

Deb O said...

You've captured the feel of his fur exactly. And, that look that says I am the most mysterious one of all. Love him!!!!

Unknown said...

Sammy is gorgeous. I love the sunlit colour in his ears!

Followed you hear from Smelly Rhino - I'll be back for more :-)

~ Christy DeKoning

Mark Adams said...

Kelly - Black blobs can be a wonderful source of inspiration. For instance - Bruce Docker posted a fantastic painting of a black cat on the daily painters site today. Your own "black Cat, White Scarf" is another fine example.

Speaking of brilliant - your "Red Pear sketch" is really really nice!

Mark Adams said...

Thanks, Diane. He is enjoying his new found fame.

Mark Adams said...

Thanks, Deb. You may recall when we lived at the old house how Sammy would totally disappear without a trace during the afternoons. He had discovered a small opening in the ceiling that separated the basement from the crawl space under the studio. A week before we moved I discovered him peering down from the rafters. Mystery cat indeed.

Mark Adams said...

Thanks, Christy. I'm glad you commented or I would not have wandered over to your sight and bought my very first ACEO card, yea! (The Black Cat, of course)

A big thanks to Rebecca at smelly Rhino for the nice link this week, too.

Barbara said...

Your cat paintings are magnificent.

Mark Adams said...

Comments like yours make my day - Thanks, Barbara!

Dean Grey said...

Mark!

Oooh and aahhh!

This is wonderfully detailed for such a small painting!

The lighting of the fur is great and you managed to make black, white, and gray look pretty damn interesting too!

A tightly rendered cat painting!

-Dean

Mark Adams said...

Dean - Sammy and I thank you for the Ooohs and aaahhs.