This is a deceptively simple exercise, which will teach us so much. The purpose is to warm up our brushes, in case you are a little rusty. It will put your materials through their paces, making sure you know how they will behave. Finally it will ensure we are all speaking the same language and understand the different techniques we will use in the portraits.

Please watch the films before you start, so you understand what we are doing. We will start by selecting three colours and a silhouette. You do not need to choose the same as me. We will paint a loose wet in wet background and then concentrate on shapes and working 'wet up to wet' we will paint the cat. We will soften and loosen edges, to create a simple silhouette, that is full of colour.