You may have noticed my fixation with lavender plants for the past month! First came the plants we were growing in our own backyard last summer. We then went, unplanned by the way, to the Provence region in France, famous for its lavender production. Then the fixation grew even more! Many of my recent artwork has been centered on lavender mainly because I love the colour of it and also because it’s so much fun introducing my kawaii characters frolicking around the fields of this amazingly vivid violet eternity. Today I am sharing with you one with a little cat!
Background
This painting was done digitally on my iPad whilst I was on vacation in France. First I began with a sky-blue background on a square setting. First layer involved incorporating some clouds (preset effect on Procreate), followed by a layer of reddish brown clay. Over this came a new thick layer of Paper Daisy in purple to emulate the lavender. I made the light effect Hard to enhance the brightness.
White Kitty
So far, so cool. And now let’s add our little white cat! I chose white so as not to distract us from the background and yet allow the image of the cat to pop out. Individual layers were initially allocated for the head, body, eyes, whiskers and collar so I could work on them separately before merging them together. After merging the layers, I was able to expand her in size and reposition her where needed. And I think Kitty looks cute where she is!
Lavender Overload!
But hmmm Kitty looks a bit out of place and lonely in the middle of a half-full lavender field! And hence I went about adding more Paper Daisy on the field and doodled in some spots on the ground. The patterns were also spread to the sides for even more added abundance. Then another layer was even introduced with a darker purple shade to add a bit more dimension and depth to the background. So far, all looked good but I was not sure if the green eyes, though a pretty shade, went well with this painting. I then, with the suggestion of my boyfriend, substituted the green with the purple I had used for some of the plants. And now that’s better! Little Kitty is so happily overwhelmed with all the lavender that her eyes have turned lavender too!
So much fun to paint digitally yet again! It comes especially handy when you are travelling and have limited supplies to carry with you. Experimenting with the countless possibilities is also enjoyable, and I always look forward to seeing what I can come up with. With all the wonderful memories of my vacation these past 3 weeks, I have quite a lot I want to paint about and can’t wait to do some more both on paper and on tablet. And meanwhile, isn’t our little kitty looking ever so adorable with her lavender eyes?
My Kawaii Quarter 