Cat-a-mount
Original Oil
16.75" X 30"
Sometimes titles are easy. I might even have a title before I begin a painting. Others, like this one, require some work. I had thought of a number of titles, but none seemed to convey what I wanted. So, I grabbed the dictionary looking up words like vista, promontory, and perch.
The next step was alliteration. Rock Retreat or High Hold. All efforts fell short.
Then I thought to look up cougar and the other names associated with this cat. Puma, mountain lion, panther. And, cat-a-mount from the Middle English cat of the mountaine. Perfect. Cat-a-mount is the abbreviation and generally refers to any of the wild cats, specifically cougar, then lynx.
The next step was alliteration. Rock Retreat or High Hold. All efforts fell short.
Then I thought to look up cougar and the other names associated with this cat. Puma, mountain lion, panther. And, cat-a-mount from the Middle English cat of the mountaine. Perfect. Cat-a-mount is the abbreviation and generally refers to any of the wild cats, specifically cougar, then lynx.
2 comments:
Great painting Linda, it was nice to see it come alive. I'm also a fan of the more impressionistic approach so I love how you handled the fur and rocks. Only small thing I don't like is the bright brown leaf in the snow below the cougars tail. My eye get drawn there every time, I would tone it down personally.
Hi Erik,
Thanks for following the painting progress and for your nice comment on the fur.
You raise a good point about the burnt sienna leaf. And, in the digital photo posted, I can see where it would be distracting. However, in the painting, there are a number of burnt sienna passages throughout which aren't appearing in the photo. The leaf does not appear out of place or draw attention.
That being said, I will look more carefully at the overall color balance to see if the leaf should be toned down.
Thanks for your comment!
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