Feedback on Annie's Painting of her Cat Archie

Annie has sent me a painting she has done of her cat ‘Archie’ and has asked for any pointers that could improve the work. I feel that Annie has really done a great job of this painting and there is very little that I can find fault with, I am sure that she is absolutely delighted with her efforts.The only thing that I would have done differently is selected a different background. I have said many times that the background can sometimes be decided by using colours from the eyes as this brings out the eye features.True enough it can be argued that the orange colour from the background is also in the eye however there are other colours that might have worked better.For instance a base colour of light grey such as 270 rubbed well into the background followed by the pale green seen in the eye then rubbed into the grey base.Orange could then have been added here and there to make a really compatible colour for the animal.If you would like feedback on your pastel pencil artwork then join Colin's membership and you can learn how to draw using Pastel Pencils.