DALTON the Cat
8” x 8” oil on board
When Dalton came to stay…
A few years ago Dalton came to stay at our house when his owners went on holiday...my young son took to putting a mark on a tally chart every time Dalton ‘meowed’... we were off the page in minutes! I swear this cat could have got the world record for meowing. His staycation continued to be eventful when, in revenge for the tally chart, he wee’d on my son’s pillow! Worse than that - because I’d put the fear of god into my son not to mess the babysitter around that night - he didn’t dare say anything till the next morning 😳 Strangely Dalton never came to stay again!! He was, however, much loved by his owners and this picture is a commission from one to the other to remind them of him (and how much he meowed!).
It is always fun, when painting a portrait, to try and include some props or symbols that have special meaning or relevance to the sitter/ pet owner. Here, their piano was key in providing the opportunity for interest since it’s so shiny as to create a subtle reflection and I love how this bit turned out... but I was left with a very large area of background to fill. It needed to be relevant and interesting but not overwhelm the picture or the animal... so we picked Dalton’s favourite word and repeated it! I knocked it back as shown with washes till I reached the right level of subtlety. I got a bit obsessed with how the word NEON looked like the word MEOW, so I like the way it glows like a neon sign!