The second cat

I'm back to work on the second cat after 3 weeks on the east coast. This may be the second cat I am painting in this piece, but this lioness is really the first cat in the work. She is the more important cat. Her body is in full view and she is the more foreground cat.

I have painted her with warmer colors than her sister. Her head also needed some brighter and more yellow (warmer) paint which I have added since the last blog. These slight adjustments will bring her further into the foreground and help set her apart from the other lioness.

Color helps distinguish the position of the cats in the painting but it is important to have distinct differences between the cats. I've already pointed out the slight difference in their right ears with the background lioness's ear breaking the plane of the background. When designing the composition, I made specific choices on their different body positions.
The close lioness has a scar on her nose and some black spots near her neck. In addition, her shoulder blade is more rounded and her face is fuller.
While all these distinctions are important, my favorite is their eyes. The background lioness seems more timid and unsure while the close lioness appears focused and determined. Some of this is achieved by pupil size and iris color. The rest from feeling - working with the eyes until I could feel a difference in attitude.