A New Medium (Watercolor and Pencil)

"Chatte et Pomegranates" 5 x 6 Watercolor and Colored Pencil on Card


We've been getting some dry, cold weather in between brief storms. Between having dry hands and finding it a little cold outside to work with pastels, I thought I might try a little different direction and play with watercolor.

The subject for the painting above is a cat who has been in the family for many years. A few years back, we had quite a pomegranate crop, and I brought a basket of them over to my sister's. The cat sniffed them curiously, then sat down by them in disgust. She looked so funny sitting guard by the basket, I had to take a picture. I thought it might make a nice card for this time of year, and set out to paint it on one of my Strathmore watercolor cards.

After getting the basic watercolor painting done, I tried out my spectracolor pencils as a finishing touch. I've never really used these seriously before, but Ive often wondered how they would look over paint. They blended nicely over the watercolor (and looked particularly nice with light color on dark paint).

The title comes from my favorite nickname for this cat (she likes to be referred to as a "Chatte," which is french for cat).

To complete the piece, I added a little cat and pomegranate to the accompanying envelope. You can see this listing and other pieces for sale on my etsy store:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/nikihilsabeck

Or, you can click below to see originals for sale through my website:
http://www.nikihilsabeck.com