Friday, March 29, 2024
cat artworkcharcoalconte crayondaily sketchmewsette

Daily Sketch: Mewsette’s Nap, and in Blue

sketch of cat napping
“Mewsette’s Nap in Blue”, black and white conté crayon on Canson mi-tientes, 6″ x 7.5″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

So plushy Mewsette was napping on the bed with the diffuse light from the window, which faces northwest. All her soft edges were even softer, and I loved the angle at which I’d first seen her, from the top of the head down, so that her face was foreshortened and all her paws were together.

I grabbed the multi-media sketchbook with white paper and my compressed charcoal pencil first, knowing she could move at any moment and those are always in easy reach. I captured those lines and curves on her face, forehead, nose and even her oddly flattened ear, then the plushy paws and tail, but all the while thinking I wished I’d grabbed the Canson sketchbook with the blue paper, I was really envisioning this on blue with white highlights and black sketchy lines.

The black and white sketch was done. Should I do another? Mewsette had moved a little but she was happily napping. Unless a naughty brother jumped up and decided to pull her hair she was napping.

So I ran to get the blue paper and got the conté crayons rather than the charcoal pencils so I could include wider lines. Two sketches in one day! I decided I’d choose the one I liked better to lead in, and that was my first idea, in blue. But I also like the strong lines and scribbles in the black one, below, and the cool thing is I can make the background of that one any color I want.

charcoal sketch of cat on bed
“Mewsette’s Nap”, compressed charcoal pencil, 6.5″ x 6″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

. . . . . . .

What other sketches did I share around this date?

.

Garden Sprite, 2013
electronic sketch of cat in garden
“Garden Sprite”, electronic ‘sketch’ • Bernadette E. Kazmarski

It’s raining today, and neither Mimi nor I is happy. We both wanted to be out in the garden after a very long week with only a few minutes here and there out in the greenery.

And after observing her outdoors as the garden is changing, I’d wanted to do a particular watercolor sketch, much like one I’d done earlier this summer, now with different flowers and colors and composition. After a while of cleaning the house and waiting for the rain to let up a bit we sat down for a bit, and I played around with some of the photos I’d taken last week that gave me the idea for the sketch. Sometimes this is a good warmup if I have a sketch in mind, opening up the palette I will use and, depending on the medium I want to use, I can plan out the work itself to a certain extent. I always do this with larger and more complex works, but especially when I’m painting en plein air, the more prepared I am with light that’s constantly changing, a kitty who keeps moving around and even a slight breeze that moves the greenery and flowers, the more quickly I can get a start and the more successful I am in capturing what I see.

But it was not to be. The rain only fell harder and the temperatures dropped, and all the geraniums and phlox and asters drooped, leaning way over to even touch their heads to the ground with the weight of their saturated petals. Even if the rains did let up, the entire atmosphere in the yard was sodden and misty now, not the clear and sunny autumn afternoon we’d been looking forward to. So, Mimi and I went back to the computer and played around a bit more, and chose one of the images I’d put together using the “cutout” filter. I’d wanted her as a solid outline, plus mottled greens as a pattern, and at least the pink of phlox blotted in here and there. In this one, Mimi turned up in the darkest green, which I think is pretty cool since it looks as if she emerges from the landscape itself. The bricks faded away, though.

There will still be opportunities later this year, and we’ll be sure to catch them!

. . . . . . .

Five for a Nap, 2012
sketch of cats sleeping on bed
Five for a Nap, brush marker and gel pen, 10″ x 6″ © B.E. Kazmarski

I wish I’d had the chance to grab my watercolors; this did not turn out as I was envisioning in markers, partly for all the sketchiness and difficulty blending. But you still get the idea–a blob of shapes and shadow that become cats on the bed with delicate outlines, done in brush markers and gel pen.

Can you guess which outline is who?

You might guess Mimi, but it’s not fair when it’s a sketch! It’s Jelly Bean, Mimi, then behind is Giuseppe, in front is Mr. Sunshine and behind again is Mewsette.


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.

"Milling", 2560 x 1440 for wide and HD monitors
“Milling”, 2560 x 1440 for wide and HD monitors

"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 this book in my Etsy shop and on Amazon.com.


Browse some rescued cats and kittens!

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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

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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