Fluffy Felines from Feathery Watercolor Technique
Watercolor and Ink Combine Forming Fantastic Cats
The comely cats featured in Endre Penovác’s ink and watercolor drawings are reminiscent of Japanese sumi-e paintings.
Penovác is not Japanese, rather he hails from Serbia.
Still the paintings he creates using this watercolor technique are fascinating and enchanting. The cats seem to crawl out of the page.
The ink and watercolor create the illusion of soft fur perfectly. Each cat seems to almost have a fuzzy halo.
Watercolor is not an easy medium. Limiting the palette doesn’t make it any easier.
Sumi-e is not strictly speaking “watercolor” although the black ink is mixed with water. While many think of sumi-e as calligraphy, and indeed there is that component to it, there is a long history of brush painting by sumi-e artists. Including paintings of cats.
According to the Sumi-e Society:
SUMI-E is the Japanese word for Black Ink Painting. East Asian Painting and writing developed together in ancient China using the same materials —brush and ink on paper. Emphasis is placed on the beauty of each individual stroke of the brush. The Chinese speak of “writing a painting” and “painting a poem.”
Penovác’s watercolor technique is looser than the typical sumi-e image as shown above. He lets the water fade into the paper, with the resulting feathering giving added depth, dimension and softness to his subjects.
The very talented Penovác also creates paintings of a variety of subjects in other media as well.
Thanks to Christoper Jobson & Colossal for first alerting us to these fascinating felines.
First two cat images by Endre Penovác, check out his website for more
Sumi-e cat image: we would love to credit the artist…please if you know, give us a heads up and we will edit this post.