JORDIE: A PAINTING COMMISSION
Brad has been in great demand lately, painting custom pet portraits! This painting is of the lovely cat Jordie, created as a commission for Jess who works with Brad at Integrated Support Solutions. Jordie is an adorable cat of 13 years old, who is still as playful as a kitten at his old age. Brad thoroughly enjoyed painting Jordie’s portrait and was particularly drawn to Jordie’s ‘cute grumpiness.’
I feel pleased Jess asked me to paint her cat Jordie, because I enjoy painting. He’s a cute cat that one, just look at him! I think I can read this cat’s mind and I’m not sure he likes me…He looks like he’s been through the wars, I noticed one of his eyes is a bit squinty with a scar, and his ear has been chewed up! Looks like he had an argument with another cat. I’ve got good eyes and I can notice a lot. Yvonne calls them, “artist eyes.” I was able to notice all the texture and fluffiness of Jordie’s fur.
I started with the underpainting in watercolour, using lots of yellow paint. That was an easy task. The fluffiness - not so much. I’ve been displaying the reference photo on my iPad and it’s made things easier. I can see the cat right there in front of me and all the details. I can look back and forth from the photo and the drawing fast.
The plants were also hard, I didn’t know if to include all the tiny details of their basket. But I wasn’t worried, wasn’t phased. I was cool, calm and collected. The last challenge was painting the whiskers on, I tried first with a super fine paintbrush but in the end I used a white gel pen. It was much easier.
I felt good painting this cat, maybe cats are slightly growing on me. I’m allergic, so I don’t like cats in real life, but a photo or video is great. However, when Yvonne suggested I should try visiting a cat cafe, I responded, “A café?! Get out of here! I wouldn’t even go in the door—I’d stay outside.”
When I look at this cat painting, I feel proud. Just look at him in comparison to my old work! I think he turned out fantastic. During this interview Brad had a sudden realisation, “I didn’t put his scar in!” and proceeded to paint in this final touch.
