Daily Sketch: “World Cat” for World Cat Day
I sketched this on September 2, 2012, and on that day that I couldn’t sit down in my studio because a certain black cat had taken over my chair, so I was doing other things I could do standing because God forbid I move the cat. I remember I spun the chair and the light hit him just right and in the highlights and shadows in his fur I pictured the globe, blue and green, little bits of peach here and there, floating in the dusty cosmos of the Milky way, envisioning an ink sketch with watercolor in those colors.
And so I grabbed my watercolor pad and my favorite Pentel Hybrid Technica drawing pen and sketched his graceful cat curve and shoulders and big ears and minimal details. Then, because he often followed me when I left the room, I tiptoed so I wouldn’t wake him to get a jar of water and my watercolors and brushes and painted the interesting light falling on him from the window and from my work lights using the watercolors from my limited traveling palette, blue, green, purple, orange and yellow.
It was all over in about 15 minutes. I named the sketch “World Cat” not because Giuseppe represents the world of cats or cats of the world (though he might like to think so), but because I set it aside for the finishing glance and it really did look like an image of the earth from space, that lovely blue and green globe, that I’d seen in that first glance.
Or perhaps it worked out this way because I think the world of my cats.
I used him as my Peace Globe for the Blog Blast for Peace in November and he really was floating in the cosmos in that one.
About World Cat Day
World Cat Day was founded by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) in 2002 because cats are special and they deserve it. Really, I didn’t find any reason for founding the day, but that seems likely since that’s usually the reason for setting aside a day to recognize a species. We who live with cats know every day is Cat Day, but we’ll gladly take one to recognize our felines, and so will they.
Where to find this art
These are sold! But I will be making more soon.
Right now I have “World Cat” available mounted on a square wood block in my Etsy shop. The block is 8″ x 8″ so the image is reduced a bit and cropped to fit; the sides of the block are painted black and it’s all finished with a clear matte finish.
I also have a number of prints as described above.
I usually have a round keepsake box with this image on the top, but I just sold it in the last week or two and haven’t had the chance to make up a new one—those round maiche boxes can be hard to find in singles or small sets. I will have them again soon!
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12 Sketches of Cats Calendar
It’s also the featured December artwork in my 12 Sketches of Cats Calendar!
- “12 Sketches of Cats 2014 Calendar”
I’ve always admired oversized “art calendars”, the ones where the art is foremost and the calendar just an incidental means of presenting it. Calendars are printed on quality text or cover stock and are only printed on one side of the page with plenty of clear space around the artwork because the image is intended to be framable with nothing printed on the back.
And so 12 Sketches of Cats is digitally printed in the same archival inks and acid-free natural 100# smooth cover stock I use for the digital art prints I sell. Each page is 11″ x 17″ so there is plenty of space to have the art at or near its native size with room for the name and information about the art with the calendar at the bottom. The calendar is spiral-bound at the top with a hole drilled just beneath the spiral so you display one page at a time.
In addition to keeping art near its native size I’ve also sized most of the artwork so it will easily fit a standard frame size. Some images, such as “Shades of Gray” and “World Cat” are smaller than the originals to fit the page. I chose sketches for popularity and narrowed them down for a variety of style and medium. All of the images but one are in color; none of the pencil, charcoal or ink sketches seemed to fit with the color art in the calendar, so of course that might be a calendar of its own someday.
And there are actually 14 sketches if you count the cover, and there’s a bonus sketch on the title page that’s the one pencil sketch, but because covers see more wear and the title page image is a little small I’m keeping the title at 12. The art included in the calendar is:
Cover: Mimi’s Sunbath
Title page: A Tangle of Cats at the Door
January: Winter Light
February: Shades of Gray
March: Catamount Brushmore
April: Two Cats After van Gogh
May: In Afternoon Sun
June: Lazy Saturday Afternoon
July: Stanley with Geraniums
August: Happy Birthday, Andy Warhol
September: Three Warm Cats on a Cool Ground
October: Two in a Basket
November: Vigilant Nap
December: World Cat
This calendar costs a little more than the typical calendar because of the size and quality, and the value of what’s in it—I generally sell my prints for $10.00 to $25.00 each depending on the size, but in this calendar you get 14 prints if you count each image, for one price—$2.50 for each of 14 prints plus $10.00 to help FosterCat, Inc. house and support the cats in their system of foster homes, find homes for the cats they’ve rescued and help sponsor many cats rescued by Pittsburgh Feral Cat Movement.
Order a calendar now
Calendars are $45.00 and as mentioned above I will donate $10.00 of each sale to FosterCat, Inc. Not only has FosterCat been doing its typical wonderful work in rescuing and finding forever homes for cats of all ages through its foster home-only all-volunteer organization, they have also been helping kittens and cats find homes who have been rescued by Pittsburgh Feral Cat Movement, which allows all those who volunteer as a rescue to foster more cats and kittens.
Click here to order a calendar through my Etsy shop.
NOTE: I will continue to sell this calendar until all I printed are gone, but because of the value of the art within it I will not discount it after the beginning of the year as I do others. The purchase price will always generate a $10.00 donation to a specified cat rescue or assistance organization.
Click here to see other daily sketches.
For a gallery of the ones available for sale, visit my Etsy shop in the “Cat Art and Prints” section.
Read about the reason for the daily sketches in Two Years of Daily Sketches.
And download your free desktop wallpaper calendar for computer or mobile, usually based on a daily sketch
A collection of 34 images of feline artwork
Feline Style Sampler
Daily sketches, illustrations, commissioned portraits all in a small coil-bound gift book.
Click here or on the image to read more
or find this book in my Etsy shop.
Browse some rescued cats and kittens!
Subscribe to The Creative Cat e-newsletter for specials on exclusively feline-themed art and merchandise.
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.
© 2014 | www.TheCreativeCat.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski
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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!
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