Cats play a huge part in my life and are perfect models, although it is impossible to get them to sit still for a photograph. This painting is of Siobhan, who has a lovely pattern of spots on her back. I happened to catch a good pose of her and decided that working in a square format would strengthen my design. I used a limited palette of browns, umber, gray and the white of the paper for her white fur. The square carpet tiles also add diagonal lines and pattern to the cat shape.