Artists just starting out painting pet portraits often are stumped by how to paint black or white animals.  A tuxedo cat is BOTH black and white!  I personally don't like to use a lot of gray, and if you look closely, you'll see most of my lights on the black fur are blues and most of the darks on the white fur are purple shades.

Here are dos and don'ts  to painting a tuxedo cat.

1.  Make sure you understand where the light is coming from..

2.  Don't be afraid to have black...be black.

3.  Mix a nice black using complementary colors, or 

4. Use a black tube paint.

5. Choose a color that speaks to you for your highlights.  In real life black often reflects the sky. 

6.  Do paint your underlying dark for your white, as mentioned, I used shades of purple.  It's easier to overlap the black fur over the white.

7. I like to an almost pure white for my highlights.  I mix a custom color of almost white that uses my favorite shades of purple.

8.  Remember that color is part of style, and so is interpreting what you see on a photo!

I am pet portrait oil painter, Robin Zebley, and this is my blog!  If  you'd like a custom portrait of your cat or dog, contact me here or text me at 610-606-8469.

The cute tuxedo cat in this post is available as an 8" x 8" reproduction art print for $25.