This is Silver Spots.  He is a "Savanah" cat.  If you've not heard of a Savanah - take a moment and google it.   They are amazing cats - and HUGE cats.   I've known Silver Spots since he was a baby and was thrilled when his owners asked me to paint him.

For the photo shoot, we took about 150 photos.  He is such a poser and in the end, his owners couldn't decide which photo was best to use as the primary pose.   They gave that job to me.   Talk about pressure!!!   He is such a regal cat that I decided to paint him in an old style feeling.  I wanted to capture as the old Masters did their subjects.   To do so the background needed to be very dark and rich so the lighter colors of his fur and eyes would pop.   The chose to have a dark frame to enhance the effect of the painting.

The end result was exactly what I'd planned and hoped.  When you look at the painting, the background draws you into the subject and your eyes rest there.