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Trivia Team
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This isn't really much of a "help" as it is that I need ideas for a background. - I sometimes paint, but I've never done a portrait. I wanted to paint a portrait of my partners late cat for Valentine's. I just finished the basic idea of what I wanted it to look like, but I have no idea what I want to do for the background. I was thinking of doing the same style that I did the cat, or just a solid background in pink, but I didnt like how the "same style" one looked on ibis. Any help would be appreciated <3 - The base idea (and catto) Edited at January 24, 2026 04:29 PM by Artemis Ridge
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due to the shadowing look on the cats face, you could just drop the main color of the fur and toen it down a TINY bit, just so it looks more realistics whiskers are also a HUGE help, so you could use like the dip pen (soft) and do 60-65 opacity. i also noticed the mouth area is more pink, so a light pinkish/whitish could make it better <3
any more tips please pm me ! I forgot you were talking about background. coughs for the background you could do a simple Light hot pink and it would look cute, or periwinkle purple <3 Edited at January 29, 2026 06:19 PM by Asteria
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Trivia Team
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Asteria said: due to the shadowing look on the cats face, you could just drop the main color of the fur and toen it down a TINY bit, just so it looks more realistics whiskers are also a HUGE help, so you could use like the dip pen (soft) and do 60-65 opacity. i also noticed the mouth area is more pink, so a light pinkish/whitish could make it better <3
any more tips please pm me ! I forgot you were talking about background. coughs for the background you could do a simple Light hot pink and it would look cute, or periwinkle purple <3
Thank you Asteria XD
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Perhaps you could include an element in the background representing the cat's personality? For example, if they liked hanging out in the garden you could pop a flowery border round them. Forget-me-nots are also nice, I've done those before on pet portraits.
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Trivia Team
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Ashcroft Park Stud said: Perhaps you could include an element in the background representing the cat's personality? For example, if they liked hanging out in the garden you could pop a flowery border round them. Forget-me-nots are also nice, I've done those before on pet portraits.
I decided on black with sunflowers. The painting was already done, and I already packaged it so I can't show a picture of the finished piece :,) But thank you both so much for your help
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Ashcroft Park Stud said: Perhaps you could include an element in the background representing the cat's personality? For example, if they liked hanging out in the garden you could pop a flowery border round them. Forget-me-nots are also nice, I've done those before on pet portraits.
That’s a lovely idea — adding something personal in the background really helps a portrait feel more meaningful. A garden or floral element could work beautifully, especially if it reflects somewhere the cat enjoyed spending time. Forget-me-nots sound like a gentle touch too. I’ll definitely consider incorporating something that captures their personality rather than keeping the background plain. Thanks for the inspiration!
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