Category: cat art

Custom Portrait: painting of a Boy and His Cat


“Boy and His Cat“
Original painting by BZTAT

Recently, a woman I met on Twitter (@Zissy4PetTalez) asked me if I could paint a portrait of her grandson and his cat as a gift for him. With some trepidation, I said yes.

I have been an animal painter for as long as I can remember. Painting people has never really been an interest of mine, so I never really explored that genre artistically. When I began using Photoshop, however, I realized that I could design some portraiture images that I kind of liked.

“Jack” Digital Photo by BZTAT

I created this picture when a woman asked me to create an image of her dog. Her nephew came along for the photo-shoot, and his mother asked me to do an image of him as well. I was quite surprised when it turned out so well!

I liked it so much, I used it for the basis for a painting that I did for the Domestic Violence Project in Canton, OH. The painting was selected for the Best in Show Award.

“Rediscovery” by BZTAT

So when my friend from Twitter asked me to do her grandson, I was a little nervous, but I had been successful with one child portrait, so I had a little bit of confidence to do it.

The cat was quite easy to paint. The boy did present some challenges for me. He kept looking sort of cartoonish to me, which I did not want. There is a fine line between whimsical, abstract, and cartoonish. I wanted to stay on the side of whimsical and abstract, but still capture a likeness of him.

I struggled with this painting more than most, because of these challenges, but then, I do tend to fuss about all of them…Anyway, once I finally finished it, I was pretty happy with the result. So was the boy when he received his gift!

Now, I feel much more confident about doing child portraits. It’s a good thing. Another Twitter friend has asked me to paint a picture of her daughter and her pug! Here is a sneak peak of the Cookie Monster (still in progress), commissioned by @BayChildCare on Twitter! (For the child’s security, I am only posting the image of the dog, per her mother’s request.)

Would you like a custom pet portrait of your pet? BZTAT will paint your animal for a very reasonable price. For information, email her at bztat@artadventuresstudios.com.

Info about pet portrait prices can be found here.

Life is an Adventure!

Art Adventures Studios
Buy Artwork and Gifts by BZTAT
Art Adventures Studios, located in downtown Canton, OH near Second April Galerie and the historic Joseph Saxton Gallery of Photography.

Oscar The Cat: The Ultimate Twitter Critter


From Brewskie Butt, official spokescat of Art Adventures Studios…

Hi Everybody. It’s the Brew. I am feelin’ very sad today. My dear Twitter friend, @OscartheCat, passed over to the Rainbow Bridge today. It is strange, since he and I never actually met in real life, but we became best pals on Twitter, and it just feels awful now that he is gone.

You may remember that I wrote about Oscar back in February here. Here is some of what I wrote back then:

I met Oscar (known on Twitter as @OscarTheCat) early in my days on Twitter, but it wasn’t until one fateful night that we became best pals. Someone nominated us both for one of those crazy Twitter popularity contests that they have, and he and I both got kinda silly with it. By the end of the night, we were in first and second place! Our friendship was cemented.

Oscar is one cool cat! He is always encouraging other cats and other critters by passing out *nosetaps*, and he has developed a special website just for Cats Who Twitter! Oscar wrote about me on his first “Blogger Tuesday” feature! He also has a blog called The Furry Tripod, so named because of his being a three-pawd cat. He lives with a slightly irreverent younger cat named Henry (known on Twitter as @Quadpawd), to whom he is trying to teach manners and the finer ways of being a cat. It’s a big job, but he takes it in stride.

Oscar has been struggling with kidney disease since February, and he has defied all the odds. Just when the vet would say that it was time for him to go, Oscar would rally back and show his human mom that he was not ready yet. Today, though, his 18 year old body finally wore out, and he left this world. he will be greatly missed by his family and his friends on Twitter.

Oscar was not just your ordinary cat on Twitter. He was a friend to all, and he was the first “anipal” for most of the Twittering Critters. He was very special, always giving support, but also quick with a joke. We can only hope that his little “mancat in training” brother will pick up his legacy and keep his spirit alive.

BZTAT painted the picture above as a tribute to Oscar back in February, and she made it into a Get Well card that was signed by many of his anipals. You can see it here. The posting page only displays the last 25 comments made, but there were many, many more. BZTAT sent the painting to Oscar’s mom a few weeks ago, because she just felt that was where it was supposed to be.

To all of Oscar’s friends, please feel free to leave a comment or final *nosetap* here for our dear friend. To Oscar’s family, I thank you so much for sharing your dear fellow with us.

And to Oscar–We are gonna miss ya, pal. But, we know what you are saying as you look down upon us from the Rainbow Bridge: “It’s all good!” *nosetaps* t0 ya pal. We luv ya.

The Brew

Life is an Adventure!

Art Adventures Studios
Buy Artwork and Gifts by BZTAT
Art Adventures Studios, located in downtown Canton, OH
near Second April Galerie and the historic Onesto Hotel.

Pandora–The Painting of a Cat


Meet Pandora, a beautiful silver Maine Coon Cat, or @Pandafur as she is known on Twitter. Pandafur is a very special Twitter friend of my spokescat, Brewskie Butt (@Brewskiebutt). Pandafur’s person commissioned her pet portrait after getting to know us on Twitter and seeing my artwork online. What a special treat to paint such a glamorous animal!

If you read Pandafur’s blog (which you should!), you will see this and many other pictures of her. In this one, she is posing with her Plague Rat, a toy made in the UK, which is the greatest sensation among cats on Twitter. Panda has this bright pink comforter in many of her pictures, so I wanted to include that color in her portrait.

My first step in creating Pandafur’s pet portrait was to make a sketch, using Photoshop and some pure old fashioned drawing.

Next, I began blocking in colors on a black canvas. As you can see, the colors are far from what is seen in the final image. This is purposeful. Using various colors layered on top of each other adds unique visual texture and light effects that create vivid and rich coloration in the painting.

The painting process of layering different colors on top of each other continued. In-process pictures were posted on Twitter for those who like to follow my process as it occurs. Folks seem to enjoy watching the process as the image develops.

Finally, the portrait was finished! Pandafur and her person, who followed the development of the painting on Twitter, were very pleased. Since they have experienced a flood in their home as a result of a washing machine hose break, I am very happy that they will soon be receiving something new to celebrate in their home! Pandafur’s pet portrait will be shipped to them this week, and they should receive it at about the time that the flood clean-up is finished!

It was a great adventure painting Pandafur! The next adventure? A painting of a young boy and his cat, commissioned as a gift by his loving grandmother. Since it is a surprise gift, I won’t be able to post pictures until the boy has received it. I will be working on other pictures simultaneously, however…

Life is an Adventure!

BZTAT

Would you like a custom pet portrait of your pet? BZTAT will paint your animal for a very reasonable price. For information, email her at bztat@artadventuresstudios.com.

Follow works in progress by BZTAT on Twitter by searching #bztatptg.

Art Adventures Studios, located in downtown Canton, OH near Second April Galerie and the historic Onesto Hotel.