Daily Sketch Reprise: Art Cat

Above is the original scan of the painting, color balanced as closely as I could get it. At the bottom of this post is the photographed edition. Neither is truly correct! But I’m moving on. See if you can find the differences. A friend gave me a much better scanner/printer than the one I’d been using at this time, and for images like this and many others I’m eternally grateful.

I’m trying out a new type of drawing paper with my wonderfully soft Sennelier pastels. What better to test on than my cats?

This is Fabriano Pastello Tiziano, a heavy-duty lightly-textured paper meant for soft pastels. The background color is the color of the paper, and I thought I’d like a backlit scene so that I could pull the highlights up against the dark shapes and the mid-range background. I like the paper, mostly because the pastels work so well on it.

Here, beginning as Mr. Sunshine and ending up as Mewsette (they are very similar in shape and size but he left before I had more than a few sketchy outlines), she twirls around to wash her hip, sitting next to little jars of fabric paint and my jar of watercolor brushes. I kept everything in the more vibrant red and blue range with highlights of yellow and just a touch of green.

Problem is, the colors in this are wrong! I actually use my scanner for my daily sketches, much more efficient than photographing and downloading since I download dozens of photos and need to deal with them all; this way I scan one image. But the scanner isn’t always accurate, as now. The highlights on the objects on the left are much more clear and bold and those objects are overall, believe it or not, much brighter.

Mewsette is way far off! Where you see the burgundy is actually a vibrant red-violet, and more of it. Around that is a navy blue which is actually a deep purple. Then that lovely turquoise, which I like, is actually a cornflower blue with just a hint of violet. I used all that purple to complement the orange and yellow highlights, but I guess my scanner knows better.

I would need daylight and the good camera to get this one right so here is the revised photo of the sketch. I didn’t change the sketch at all, just photographed it in daylight instead of scanning it. Normally I photograph outdoors with reflected daylight because it’s the most balanced, but not for this sketch! I had to photograph it in full sun to get the colors correct, and they are still not quite there but I’m over it. There are things I like about each of them even though they are the same image.

And because I actually found a frame that was just perfect for this one, I have the original matted and framed and in my Etsy shop! I wasn’t making prints or merchandise from my sketches yet, but I may play around with this one.

Browse some rescued cats and kittens!

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 using one in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of this image or a product including this image, check my Etsy shop or Fine Art America profile to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item.

Inspired by felines you know! Visit Portraits of Animals on Etsy.