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The subject of this painting is one of our cats, Sophie. We have had her since she was a kitten and she used to run outside every chance she would get. Once outside, she would head for the first tree she saw and climb it in record time. She's about 7 years old now and has for the most part lost that desire to physically run outside whenever a door opens. But she still enjoys the view from a window or door and I captured this image of her reaching for the sky.
This painting was created with a variety of pastel pencils and soft pastels on Canson Mi-Teintes paper. The painting is built up in layers, employing a very light touch. I refrain from blending the pastel with my finger since I feel this dulls the luminosity of the pastel. Instead, I complete the painting by blending and glazing with pastel pencils to create subtle transitions and shifts in color. Pops of color are achieved at the very end of the process using the softest pastels in my collection. They are very intense and almost pure pigment, so a little goes a long way.
