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Writer's pictureRachel

Halloween Black Cat Watercolor Painting Tutorial

Join me for live chat tomorrow morning at 9 AM Eastern at https://youtu.be/Lz_nSdUAXXw when I premiere my new free video with highlights from recent Halloween paintings. It will feature advanced watercolor techniques including Thirsty Brush Lifting, Sumi Ink Fluff Technique, Glow Effects + More!




The above scary kitten painting was born when I saw a post of THE most adorable black kitten with bat wings posted on a friend's Tyra JoiLotus McFadden timeline.



That was years ago, but the image always stuck with me, so when I saw another friend, Keely Saye, post a picture of a black kitten she was fostering, I asked her if I minded if I borrowed her muse. The only other problem was to add bat wings that worked for the pose this kitten was in. So I used DallE2 artificial intelligence and Photoshop to create an acceptable version.


The other side of the story of how I came to this painting was my long history painting black cats. For the last 20 years of my life Sadie, a long haired black cat I found as a sickly kitten in a park, had been my constant companion. To watch a video about her, visit https://youtu.be/dNO_YWK8gpg?si=uOkNU39bd8lwjYyx



As I evolved as an artist I learned more and more about painting black fluffy kitties with a fairly complex wet in wet technique. I’ve learned a lot over the years about how to get the purrrrrfect ‘furred out’ effect that captures the soft fluff of long haired cats, and I’ll share several of my secrets in this video.

Here are a few videos about this technique -

https://youtu.be/W8fc6SSTYas?si=8TP_qlYQZhrvjMSs - Wet in Wet Black Cat Painting Experiments

https://youtu.be/GEptIAqfuUQ?si=0rYZVYRos24qWv-F - Chick version (one of the most magical painting results I've ever had!)

If you don’t have Chinese calligraphy ink, Daniel Smith Lamp Black is a great alternative. Sometimes it furrs out better than ink. Sometimes ink is better. That’s watercolor - it has a mind of its own!


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More fun links (some are affiliate links)

Chinese Black Ink - https://amzn.to/3FlEU9m

Halloween Stencils - https://amzn.to/3Fq8qLo

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Links to the videos I mention in this tutorial -

https://youtu.be/1LipoyDGG0I Tips for painting a moon

Read more about synthetic black mix at https://handprint.com/HP/WCL/waterb.html#indigo

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More of my favorite things…

Spider Halloween String Lights https://amzn.to/3S4n9D2

Black Cat Halloween Sweater https://amzn.to/3SbEiuR

Black Cat Halloween Sweatshirt https://amzn.to/46Va2bt

Blue-Erase Reading Glasses https://amzn.to/46BAh7c


What's your favorite Halloween painting? Here are a couple more I've done Patreon tutorials on. To watch them in real time with explanation join patreon.com/rachelsstudio



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