You’ve all heard plenty about the three-cat commission I’ve been working on in recent months, so I’m pleased to finally reveal the finished painting of Fable, Mortdecai, and Jack.
Commissions are always challenging, involving plenty of photos and communication before I ever put down a brush stroke. I can’t get the likeness and personality right if I don’t know the subject.
While Mortdecai has some white in him, they’re all still black cats. Both black and white animals, wild or domestic, bring their own difficulties, mostly because they’re not really either. Black fur is defined by the light it reflects, and white fur has similar challenges. It’s the shading that gives the features depth and form.
These challenges don’t make them less desirable to paint, though. One of my favourite animals to paint is a raven. I enjoy working blue highlights and accents into black feathers and fur, finding that balance between too much and too little. That love of painting light on dark was a big part of this commission.
Tobi, my client, has a thing for ravens. A lot of the art in her home features them, and I can’t say I blame her. Shonna and I admired some striking raven pieces on her walls when we visited. Shonna likes ravens, too, and longtime followers might recall the aluminum print photo I gave her for her 50th birthday. You can see and read about it here.
Tobi has been following my work for quite some time. Along with other art in her collection, she owns many of my 11×14 poster prints and a few metal pieces. For this delivery, she had also ordered a custom 16×16 square-cropped metal print of my Winter Raven painting, along with the cat commission.
Tobi had requested a square version of that painting to match the size of the Blue Beak Raven metal print she already had, and I was happy to accommodate.
Commissions require a lot of back-and-forth. My clients need to be part of the process, otherwise I may not be able to deliver what they want. I’m fortunate that those who have hired me to paint their pets have almost all been engaged and enthusiastic. They dig up photos, share stories, and talk about personalities and quirks. All of it helps me do my best work.
Tobi was a joy to work with. She gave me dozens of photos of all three cats, shared their backstories, and talked about their most prominent features. She also gave me plenty of time, which I’ve needed this year. The only pressure was self-inflicted.
Commissions are a significant financial investment, and I don’t take that lightly. Once someone has paid their 50% installment, I’ve got a ticking clock in my head that gets louder the more time passes. Between editorial cartoon deadlines, marketing, and other projects, I’m always trying to carve out time for whichever commission is on deck.
Because I knew three cats in one painting would take more time than any other commission I’ve done, I shared work-in-progress shots with Tobi and with all of you. I don’t usually do that, but since she’s been following my work for so long, I knew she could tell the difference between sketches, roughs, and a finished piece.
Sharing those early stages turned out to be a good decision. It’s tough to make three similar-looking cats look like individuals, but Tobi’s feedback on each cat helped me make subtle adjustments before the detail stage, which led to better likenesses for all three. Best of all, I could reassure her that I was making steady progress.
When I finally showed Tobi the finished painting on a Sunday morning a couple of weeks ago, I nervously waited for her reply. I always expect the worst until I hear otherwise. Thankfully, she didn’t make me wait long.
“The painting is PERFECT!!!! I’m absolutely dying over here, somewhere between laughing out loud and choking up a little bit, because you’ve captured all three of the boys so amazingly!! Their expressions and personalities are spot-on, I don’t even understand how it’s possible! I am overwhelmed and absolutely thrilled with it!”
That kind of reaction never gets old.
Once the metal print arrived, this shot taken with a lot of light, I arranged to deliver it to Tobi’s home in Calgary. Shonna came along for the ride, and we enjoyed the reveal in person. We also wanted to meet the cats, of course, but in true feline fashion, one ran away, one watched us from up the stairs, and the third never showed. Our old cat Muse was like that, too. Great with us, no time for anyone else.
As with all commissions, there’s a great sense of accomplishment when I deliver what a client has hired me to do. It’s humbling enough that anyone would buy the whimsical wildlife artwork I create on my own. But to hire me to paint their furry family members in my style is about the biggest compliment I get.
For all of you who have hired me to paint your pets, I remain grateful for your trust, and I hope your paintings make you smile each time you see them. And for those still waiting, thank you for your patience. I’ll do my best to make it worth the wait.
After I sent Tobi a selection of finished images for her use, something I include with every commission, she replied, “This has been such a great experience, and one that I’ll definitely be talking about for years to come.”
I’m working on a video about this piece and will share that with all of you soon.
Cheers,
Patrick
You can attribute it to seasonal affective disorder, lack of light, or the extreme cold weather that settled in this week, but January is not my favourite month. I am at my most miserable and misanthropic this time of year, coupled with a short fuse. My jaw has been bugging me for a couple of weeks, a consequence of unconscious clenching and teeth grinding. I’m not sleeping well and have bad dreams.
But at the moment, each 
On the way, there’s a long stretch of paved pathway beside the train tracks. It runs behind another grocery store, recycling drop-off, and Canadian Tire and several ravens hang out in the area, scavenging for scraps.
But when a raven flops down on his back and rolls around in the snow, pausing several times to look right into my lens, it’s hard not to imagine it’s doing it for my benefit. I took quite a few shots of this clown before he (or she) finally got back on his feet.
Thanks to a recent photo tip technique on my friend 
While a professional photographer might deem them unworthy for prints or portfolio pieces, I use the photos strictly for reference, so any flaws don’t matter.
Though I’m struggling to find my creative spark right now, I know it will return as spring gets closer, and my mood will improve with more sunlight and warmer weather. It always does. And should I want to paint more ravens then, I’ll be grateful I forced myself to get out now and that I took my camera with me, even though I didn’t feel like it.