Her Majesty
I shot a picture of this magnificent Maine Coon cat at the house of a friend who does cat rescue. I’ll probably use this image more than once, it’s just too wonderful for one painting. Anyway, I’m working on several stone slab paintings to send out to shows, and I’ll try to chronicle my efforts. At this point, I’m just calling this kitty “Her Majesty” for obvious reasons. 
I’ve picked out a lovely slab of agate conglomerate to paint on.
I’ve transferred the image to the stone and put down the first coat in acrylic gesso. Traditionally, gesso was made from chalk and animal glue to prime wood panels for painting. Modern acrylic gesso is actually a combination of calcium carbonate with an acrylic polymer medium latex, a pigment and other chemicals that ensure flexibility, and ensure long archival life. This is the base coat, I now put my gesso away and get out the regular acrylic paint kit. We’ll see how much I can get done today.
