How to Paint a Quick and Easy Background in Oils - Lesson No.2

There isn't a lot of background in this painting, so we need to keep it simple and soft so that all our attention will be on the cats.

I decided on a blue/aqua theme, but it could be any colour as one cat is grey and the other white.  On my palette I mixed a very dark blue-green, a mid blue, a very light blue and a very light lemon.  I used Prussian Blue and Lemon which I thought was rather pretty.  I dabbed in the darks first, then mid-tones, light blues and lastly filled in all the gaps with the lemon mix.  Then it's just a matter of feathering it all off gently so that it is very soft and out-of-focus. 

A bit more feathering off with a soft, dry brush and I'm done.