Tuesday, March 19, 2024
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February Featured Artwork and Desktop Calendar: Stripes

“Stripes”, pencil, 8″ x 5″, 2002 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski
“Stripes”, pencil, 8″ x 5″, 2002 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

This is a daily sketch from many years ago, at another time when I did daily sketches. Stanley settled on the pillow on the recamier for his after-breakfast nap and I simply grabbed my pencil and sketchbook and swung around in my desk chair and got it down on paper. I’m so glad, because more than any photo with all its distracting details and often questionable quality, this sketch brings Stanley and that moment right back for me as I remember studying him and deciding what was essential about the scene and about what I loved of Stanley. I always loved Stanley’s “racing stripes” on his face and the back of his head, and “Stripe” or “Stripes” were nicknames I had for him. This pillow was meant for me to use during yoga, but apparently I was wrong about its purpose.

He was about 20 in this sketch and I remember looking at his shape and the shape of the pillow almost echoing each other as an interesting composition, my eyes tracing all those graceful curves and shadows, lovingly caressing his side, the angles of his ears, the stripes as if it was my hand. I visualize art all the time in everything I look at and most of the time I enjoy the moment and let it pass, but in this instance I reached a point where I couldn’t not do this sketch or it would linger, and I would regret not taking the time. Because I can’t draw everything I visualize, that’s how I choose what to draw—I don’t, it becomes an overwhelming inspiration and I have no choice. Stanley’s shape and markings were so familiar that it wasn’t difficult to lightly outline in pencil the familiar ears and head and hip, the stripes and whiskers, and even that pillow he loved to nap on, and then work in the details with every angle of the pencil.

I love my colors and usually my choice of desktop calendar art is full of color whether representational or not, but at some point in the winter months I like to feature monochromatic artwork, especially pencil or ink.

I love to work in pencil. It’s the medium I’ve been using longest from the first time I picked up one of my mother’s No. 2 pencils and tried to sketch the bare crabapple tree against the snow in the back yard. I often say I can “think” in pencil, the image comes to me immediately and I can even sketch looking at the subject and not looking at the paper, and creating lines and shading and shapes without any conscious thought I’m aware of.

A New Member Thank You

“Stripes”, pencil, 8″ x 5″, 2002 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski
“Stripes”, pencil, 8″ x 5″, 2002 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

You can get a free matted print when you register for an account on Portraits of Animals.

Register for an account on Portraits of Animals and get a free double-matted print of “Winter Sunbath” or choose from several other sketches, paintings or photos of cats and other subjects.

The New Member print is a signed digital print of “Stripes”. This print is 5 x 7 double matted to fit an 8 x 10 frame.

This print is only available as a new member gift during this month while it’s the featured artwork and desktop calendar, so make sure you sign up before the end of the month!

Or purchase the original or a different print or item

I also offer a variety of digital and canvas prints, find this on Portraits of Animals.

Greeting Cards

You can find “Stripes” as part of my “Feline Pencil Sketches” series of note cards.

Gift Items

I often have individual handmade items with this image. Search www.PortraitsOfAnimals.net for “Stripes” to see what’s available (but I warn you, the title “Stripes” appears in other designs too, I just like the title). If you’d like to request something special you can email me or comment when you order.


This month’s desktop calendar

If these sizes don’t work for your device, or if you have problems, please let me know. Often I can troubleshoot the reason an image won’t download or won’t load on your device, but if I just can’t figure it out I can just email it to you and hope that works.

How to download and use your desktop calendar

  1. Click on one of the images below that matches the dimensions of your monitor to open the image in a new page.
  2. For desktop computers and laptops, right-click on that image and on a desktop computer choose “save as desktop wallpaper” or “save as background” or whichever option your operating system gives you to be able to do this. You may also simply save it to your hard drive and set it as your background from there.
  3. For mobile devices, press on the image to bring up a menu and choose “open in new window”. Go to that window and press until a menu appears and choose as “set as wallpaper” or “set as lock screen” or whatever you’d like—this is slightly different on all devices.

Horizontal and HD monitors and screens

Desktop calendar 2560 x 1440 for HD and wide screens.
Desktop calendar 2560 x 1440 for HD and wide screens.

. . .

Square monitors and screens

Desktop calendar, 1280 x 1024 for square and laptop monitors.
Desktop calendar, 1280 x 1024 for square and laptop monitors.

. . .

Small Mobile Devices and Tablets

Desktop calendar, 600 x 800 for iPad, Kindle and other readers.
Desktop calendar, 600 x 800 for iPad, Kindle and other readers.

. . .

Cell Phones and Smartphones

Desktop calendar, for 400 x 712 for mobile phones.
Desktop calendar, for 400 x 712 for mobile phones.

Take a look at other featured artwork and desktop calendar posts.

Each month I feature a piece of feline artwork from the archives to the present day, discuss its history and process, and set it up as a free downloadable desktop calendar for just about every electronic device available.


Click here to see daily sketches, click here to see daily photographs, click here to see other artwork featured on The Creative Cat or visit Fine Art and Portraiture on my main website.


"Feline Style Sampler" book of sketches and portraits.

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 it on Portraits of Animals.


Gifts featuring cats you know! Visit Portraits of Animals

AfterDinnerNap-Etsy

Fine ArtPhotographyGiftsGreeting CardsBooksCommissioned Portraits & Artwork

 



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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© 2022 | www.TheCreativeCat.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski

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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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.

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