Thursday, March 28, 2024
animal artworkblack catscatsdaily sketchjelly beanmimimr. sunshinepencil

Daily Sketch: Curled on the Bed

pencil sketch of three cats curled on bed
Curled on the Bed, pencil © B.E. Kazmarski

What else to do on a lovely sunny afternoon but curl up in the sun on the bed? Well, some of us have to work, but kitties need their beauty sleep. They gave me a break from the computer when I decided they’d be today’s subject.

This was just as much about capturing all three, each of whom moved enough that they needed extra sketching, as it was about the bedding. I enjoyed the challenge of depicting the pattern on the postage-stamp quilt, each little square with its own pattern and color and the squares arranged in a repeating geometric pattern, as well as the pillow shams with the ruffled eyelet edging. How to render the details in pencil when much depends on color, and how much detail is just enough without drawing every little eyelet opening and every flower and line on each square? Very fun to let my hands figure it out without overthinking it, which is how I end up overdoing it.

I added a little more shading to Mimi, Jelly Bean and Mr. Sunshine since they are black, and I also liked their contrast against the quilt.

I love this particular vintage quilt because I love handmade things, and I use it as much for the background in photos and eventually paintings as just to enjoy its springtime feel. But I have to be careful with it and soon it will be gently soaked in the washer and dried outside in the shade on a warm sunny day to be put away for another spring.

About this original and prints

This original is also for sale, framed, in my shop on Etsy as well as digital prints. I think I also want to take a few and colorize them.

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Click here to see other daily sketches, and for a gallery of the ones available for sale, visit my Etsy shop in the “Daily Sketches” section.

All images used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in purchasing one as a print, or to use in a print or internet publication.

Bernadette

From health and welfare to rescue and adoption stories, advocacy and art, factual articles and fictional stories, "The Creative Cat" offers both visual and verbal education and entertainment about cats for people who love cats, pets and animals of all species.

7 thoughts on “Daily Sketch: Curled on the Bed

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  • Oooh! How did the cats take it .. that it wasn’t about them, I mean? lol I love old fashioned quilts. I think it is quite an exercise to try and depict colour using just pencil. I do like it very much 🙂

    Reply
    • Carolyn, they were sleeping, that was the only way I could get away with it. I really enjoyed this! I usually keep my sketches to something I can finish in a minute or two, five minutes max and this was ambitious for that amount of time. I went a little over, but not by too much.

      Reply
  • I absolutely love this! The ruffled pillows jumped out immediately, because I am a ruffle person, too, with ruffled bedding. This piece is exquisite, Bernadette – it feels like home to me.

    Reply
    • Chris, you got it–it was just as much about the bedding as the cats! I remember looking at sketches in books growing up and thinking how clever it was once I looked really closely and saw what I thought was a carefully drawn ruffle, but was only a bunch of swirls! So came this one, and the quilt too, just little blocks, a few with patterns. I remember the first time I “indicated grass”, same excitement, I had learned to be minimal.

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