This unique painting was created in March, 2024 as a result of an art trade with another artist, Vajra. I have never done a pet portrait as a part of an art trade before, but I have been an admirer of Vajra’s artwork for many years and was willing to accept the offer. They are a psychedelic artist who uses bold bright colors and heavy lines to create very interesting works of art, and I was excited to see one of my own pets replicated in this unique style. They also were a fan of mine, and were excited to see their kitty painted in my vibrant style.
This kitty’s name is Mala, and she is a lynx point Himalayan cat. Her owner provided me with several photos of her, but their favorite was one where she was lying on his desk, next to a small sculpture of a glowing skull. They wanted me to include that in the portrait. The skull was lit internally with pink light, and I replicated that to my best ability with the acrylic paints on the 11×14 inch canvas. I used fluorescent pink for that, and although it does not translate particularly well in the digital scan, in the real life painting it practically glows!
The owner requested a bright rainbow color palette for the painting. To keep the background simple and complement the main colors I was planning on using for the cat, I decided on a simple gradient of blue, purple, and hot pink. The desk she was lying on was a creamy color, so I used yellow as the primary color and added some greens and purples for shadows. The green thing she has her head resting on looked like a cutting mat (it had a grid on it) and was green and white in the actual photo so I just used greens and teals to keep it consistent. The skull itself was just a plain off-white creamy color but had abstract designs drawn onto it. The owner did not want the designs in the painting to keep the focus on the cat, so I used pale blue as the base and added various colors for the shadows. The internal light was done with fluorescent pink, and I used the same fluorescent pink to create a rim highlight around the edge of the cat’s fur, as well as some subtle glowing effects around the table edge.
Even though I use bright rainbow colors, I tend to stick to the colors and markings present in the pet, in a style I call “colorful realism”. In this style, I use the pet’s actual colors as a guide to selecting which colors I will use. So, tans get bumped up to orange, creamy colors and yellows get extra saturated yellows, blacks become purples and blues, and whites are pale pastel colors. You can still tell what the pet’s original colors and markings are, just bumped up to maximum saturation, with some random colors splashes for fun. For Mala’s fur I used a base of purples, and added blues and pinks with some yellows for her creamy fur. The bridge of her nose was a warmer orange color so I used some oranges and pinks for that, and her pink nose pad was made a brighter pink. Her blue eyes were her natural eye color, and I did not change that much. Overall, I had fun creating this painting, relaxing and letting my artistic license guide me with few restrictions or boundaries, and I think it is one of the coolest paintings I have made so far.
The above portrait is the other end of the exchange. This is my cat Chloe, painted by Vajra in acrylic paints on an 11×14 inch wood panel. Vajra used bright rainbow colors and a unique swirly design on the background to give the painting an ethereal, otherworldly vibe. They truly captured her spirit and it is a painting I will cherish for the rest of my life.
