Daily Sketch Reprise: Studio Guardians, the painting

July 9, 2017July 19, 2017 Bernadette

watercolor of two cats on windowsill — Studio Guardians, watercolor pencil © B.E. Kazmarski

Since I’ve been spending more time in my studio in the past few years, photos and sketches of my studio cats have become a thing. This little sketch from five years ago is still one of my favorites, in part because it’s bright and colorful and also because it’s very specific for place, but it’s timeless. The old casement with the vase of paintbrushes on the windowsill has been there a long time, the bright green trees outside the window, and many cats have spent time in the sun on the windowsill so it’s timeless. Funny that I painted this so early in my daily sketches series, five years ago. It was almost prophetic.

This is what I wrote about this little painting when I painted it in 2012, five years ago: Yesterday I actually did a painting of Giuseppe and Mewsette guarding my studio, and took photos for reference, and just to have them. I didn’t get the chance last night to post the painting, though I like the photo and posted that as yesterday’s daily photo (actually seen below), intending to just show a comparison of two different media, and what I often do to sketches to simplify them and focus on the subjects.

If you look at yesterday’s photo (actually seen below) you’ll see there’s much more stuff in front of and around them. While this does look like my studio, it’s distracting, and I don’t like to include unnecessary details in my paintings. What I was seeing was what you see here, Giuseppe and Mewsette, the vase with brushes, the window with the green outdoors, and a few miscellaneous shadows. What you don’t see is what I either literally did not see, or simply ignored. I’m good at that. So are my cats.

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Studio Guardians, 2012

two black cats on windowsill — Studio Guardians

Kelly took the day off as my studio cat today, at least so far, so Giuseppe and Mewsette took their places on the cool marble windowsill. Surely I am well supervised, and no evil spirits would dare pass my guardians.

One drawback was that they were a little too far away for me to touch, so all I could do was look a them, a pleasure. I also photographed them repeatedly, and painted them as well, scan coming later.

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"Studio Morning Shift", pastel on black pastel paper, 9 x 12 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski — “Studio Morning Shift”, pastel on black pastel paper, 9 x 12 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

Mimi, Mewsette and Mr. Sunshine were totally enchanting getting organized in the best cuddle pile on my drafting table by the window, the light was wonderful, and, well, here you are. The original is still on my wall, in line to be framed, and I discovered it looks great as a place mat. Read more and purchase.

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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.