Diana Probst, Cambridge Artist

Gold Eyed Cat

A black cat on a white background.  The cat has eyes made of gold leaf.This was a Christmas Commission. It’s postcard sized, although it was delivered in person. This is a style that I really like right now – gold in a dark colour has a lot of impact. Black cats really do look like this in the right lighting conditions, as well.

The important thing is to do the eyes first. They went on with an acrylic paint designed for guilding over – it’s pink, and you paint it on, and it sits there, just being pink. Then, when you’re ready, and your gold is cut, and you’re in a room without breezes or distractions, you can lift up your gold using a dampened brush and breathe on the paint. That makes it sticky enough that you can float the gold down onto it and it’ll stick into place. After that, it can be pressed down more firmly, first under protective sheeting and then directly. Then it’s glued on basically forever, if nothing else goes wrong.

So, that’s what I did. The ‘black’ is Payne’s Grey, because that’s a great watercolour black and suits the gold better than a carbon black would.

If you’re interested in supporting me, buying my postcards regularly is absolutely the best way, and it can be done via Patreon. That’s a website that specialises in matching creators of cool stuff to their fans, and my Patreon will let you choose your level of support. Shipping costs are included, to make it easy on us both. If you want to help me, that is the best way, and you get art too!