I made the initial sketch at the end of January 2026 and completed the painting one month later, at the end of February, after a total of about six hours of work. After realizing that my way of seeing is different, I found that I could create the cat simply by first blocking in the areas that appeared light and dark using a single color, and then roughly placing the light, dark, and colors exactly as I saw them, starting wherever I wanted. This way of painting felt very easy for me. For the initial sketch, I started from the top, but that left too much empty space at the bottom. So I erased it and started again from the belly upward, and the cat fit the space perfectly.

I painted this cat’s paw pad in about an hour using leftover paint.

I stopped following the process my artist friend had taught me and discovered my own way of painting. I roughly outlined the area where the cat would be, then painted the background around the cat’s shape first. This method was incredibly easy for me. After that, I simply placed the light, dark, and colors exactly as they appeared in the reference photo. The entire painting took about six hours. It feels almost like carving a sculpture—removing everything that isn’t needed until the image emerges. This really is an incredibly easy way for me to paint.

For this cat as well, I used the method of roughly marking the cat’s position with a brush, then painting in the background to reveal the shape of the cat. I realized that this method suits the way I see best. When I tried the conventional oil painting process of laying down a base color first, my mind simply couldn’t follow it. It’s as if the color within the area I’ve roughly outlined is just naturally visible to me without having to consciously observe it with my eyes at all times. I had always assumed this was normal.Completed on March 6, 2026, after a total of six hours of work.

March 12, 2026 — Painting time: 2 hours. For this painting as well, I stopped using the method my artist friend had taught me. Instead, I first blocked in the areas that appeared light and dark using a single color, and then layered the colors on top, following the light and dark values and approximate colors as I saw them. The background is yellow simply because I had mixed too much yellow paint and didn’t want to waste it, so I used it for the background. There is no particular meaning behind it. I had always felt that painting people was difficult, but with this method, it was surprisingly easy for me. I had always wondered why I was supposed to first put colors on a face that I couldn’t actually see.