Daily Sketch Reprise: All Lined Up and Waiting for Dinner
They had to work for their dinner tonight! I went into the kitchen—some time before dinner—and this huge mass of black cats moving around on the cabinet just had to be expressed. It’s a difficult angle because there is little room on either side of the cabinet and they were moving sooo much, but I captured each of them one by one, Giuseppe, them Mr. Sunshine, Jelly Bean and Mewsette, as they showed up and spent just a few moments there. Charcoal is the quickest for something like this. No reference photo to finish up with. But I look at them all the time—I should know them well enough, shouldn’t I?
This is the same charcoal pencil as the sketch below, but I only had two cats to draw there and could be a little more definite.
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What was I sketching a year ago today?
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The Twist, 2014
Mewsette twists this way and that in the fervor of her bath. She knows she is modeling.
Something interesting I’ve noticed about my sketches—they have grown larger over time. I started out with tiny sketches, some only 2″ x 4″, on 8″ x 10″ paper, now I fill up all of a 9″ x 12″. That means my hand is warmed up and ready to flow over the paper. While my daily sketches have influenced my painting and sketching style and technique, now it’s time for my painting and sketching technique for commissions to influence my daily sketches. I notice I rarely sketch out a commissioned subject, preferring instead to just start drawing on the paper as if I’m painting en plein air. It’s an interesting turn of events.
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Pencil Cats, 2012
I’ve been sketching at my desk downstairs more often than in my studio lately, and I left myself with only a few lead and charcoal pencils and a drawing pen; today I was wishing I had my colored pencils, but I made do with just the old Ebony drawing pencil.
Sunshine and Bean were attentively watching the wildlife outside the front door on our sidewalk and porch, birds, chipmunks and Fatso the squirrel. I understand this level of attention because I can watch this activity with the same level of concentration. Of course, I’m not thinking of killing and eating these things, but perhaps Sunshine and Bean aren’t either. Perhaps they just look like little mobile toys.
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Giuseppe and Mr. Sunshine survey their realm from the sunny second floor window.
These cool but sunny mornings have drawn all of us to the windows, especially the upstairs windows facing the east where the sun streams in. As an extra added attraction, the pussy willow leans over the deck roof and is a popular perching place for birds at any time, especially those visiting the feeders. I also have a small tray feeder hanging on the edge of the deck roof so I can see it from the kitchen; this feeder holds finely chopped nuts and other avian goodies, causing them to line up on the gutter along the edge of the deck roof. There’s quite a bit to keep them entertained outside of this window!
I also caught them snuggling in a wonderful photo after they were exhausted by bird watching, featured as today’s daily photo.
Click here to see other daily sketches.
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Here is one of my favorite sketches, the third daily sketch of over a thousand, from way at the beginning of my series of sketches beginning on December 4, 2011, and one of the few to include Cookie. It’s Kelly, Mimi and Cookie enjoying dinner on the evening of December 7, 2011. Find it on Portraits of Animals.
Copyright
All images and text used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission, although links to your site are more than welcome and are shared. Please ask if you are interested in using and image or story in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of an image or a product including it, check my animal and nature website Portraits of Animals 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.
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Weekly schedule of features:
Sunday: Essays, Pet Loss, Poetry, The Artist’s Life
Monday: Adoptable Cats, TNR & Shelters
Tuesday: Rescue Stories
Wednesday: Commissioned Portrait or Featured Artwork
Thursday: New Merchandise
Friday: Book Review, Health and Welfare, Advocacy
Saturday: Your Backyard Wildlife Habitat, Living Green With Pets, Creating With Cats
And sometimes, I just throw my hands in the air and have fun!