I removed the eyes before I started painting. The eyes will be be glued into place after all the painting is done and they will fit perfectly into place since the piece was baked with the eyes in.
I painted the cat white first to seal the clay and give me a nice, crisp surface to add color to. Most of the cat is painted with a mix of white and off-white to keep it from being such a cold, bright white. The stripes have been painted with an opaque red and will get a second coat of a darker, more transparent red. The opaque red under-layer means that I won’t have to paint 20 coats of transparent red just to get a nice solid red.
The whisker ends will be curled after I have finished everything else on the piece.
