Friday, March 29, 2024
black catscartooncat artworkdaily sketchgiuseppemr. sunshine

Daily Sketch Reprise: Saturday Morning

ink sketch of two cats looking over covers
“Saturday Morning”, Ink hybrid technical pen, 9″ x 4″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

“Don’t act like you’re dead. We know dead things. We’re cats.”

Yeah, this is pretty much what I saw when I woke up this morning. I may have slept a little later than usual, but not by much. I could only see two over the edge of the covers, Giuseppe’s ears and Mr. Sunshine’s baleful eye, but I could feel that all five were there. And they were sitting very still and watching me.

But they did catch me in the act of trying to fool them. The two are so cute at trying to pull the covers off me and digging me out that I confess I lie there pretending to be asleep just to enjoy all the effort they put into getting me out of bed! First, though, I thought, “That would make an interesting piece of artwork. How should I do it?” Then, because it can sometimes take me years to get to ideas like the more realistic view I was considering, I decided a sketch would be immediate gratification, and possibly the best way to render it. I took notes with my eyes at what it all looked like, and drew it later in the day.

. . . . . . .

CWA-BADGE_BlackCertExcellence

Winner of a 2014 Certificate of Excellence by the Cat Writers’ Association.

Click here to read more about this contest and the awards.


What other sketches did I post on this date?

.

Nap With Color, 2012/2013
pattern of colorful cats
Pattern made from “Nap”.

I saw that this sketch was what I’d posted on this day last year, and I love the strong and interesting lines made with my brush pen. Just like the sketch “Just Fits”, I could see it as a colorful pattern, just a tiny kitty filled with color—wrapping paper? fabric? Could be many things! So I quickly worked it up, as you see little white specks here and there, just to see what it would look like. I’m definitely going to do some experiments with this design on a few handmade things first. There is so much potential for fun I’m almost overwhelmed!

Below is the original sketch, which I still adore just as it is. You can see that when I did the simple fill I also lost some of the finer lines, like most of Bean’s whiskers, but when I do a better version of it I can fix that.

From the original post: Bean was pretty deep into a relaxed nap so I used a relaxed line to describe him in black ink using my brush pen.

ink sketch of cat napping
“Nap”, ink brush pen, 6.5″ x 4.5″ © B.E. Kazmarski

Cat art paper!

art paper with sketch of cat in basket
“Just Fits” art paper.

I’ve had this idea in mind for several years trying to find the best way to put it together. Seeing text-weight and cover-weight art papers for scrapbooking and creative crafts I decided this was a good way to give it a try. These papers are designed from my portraits and sketches and printed digitally. Here is art paper I created using the idea above with “Just Fits” and printed it as a repeating pattern. Below is “Brushy Kitties”, another paper, which includes “Nap”.

art paper with ink sketches of cats
“Brush Kitties” art paper

Both are available on text weight stock at 11″ x 17″ and cover weight stock in 11″ x 11″. The text-weight paper is printed on one side of 60# uncoated text weight paper—in case you want to add color yourself—the cover-weight is printed on 100# Lynx Bright White cover.

Use these papers for scrapbooking, wrapping gifts, decorating keepsake boxes or any creative project you can think of that needs a bunch of cats on it! I ship them flat between sheets of cardboard. I’ve included a photo of keepsake box I made as an example–this box is not for sale.

I’ve started with three different designs and two different paper stocks, text and cover, to see how popular they are. I have many more ideas in mind for these papers—consider the number of daily sketches and portraits I have, plus holiday designs, and artwork yet to come!

. . . . . . .

Mewsette Bath Studies, 2012
marker sketch of cat bathing
“Mewsette Bath Studies”, brush marker, 6″ x 8″ © B.E. Kazmarski

I had intended one sketch of Mewsette bathing, instead kept going. She regularly gives herself a big happy bath all over my work table so instead of just one moment in a bath, I caught the bath process.

It is in red because Mewsette’s color is red—the color I dabbed on her ear when she was a tiny kitten to be able to tell her from her brothers.

. . . . . . .

Wrestling Match, 2012
charcoal sketch of cats wrestling
“Wrestling”, 6.5″ x 9″, charcoal pencil © B.E. Kazmarski

Don’t think it’s the boys this time—Mewsette is on top and it’s Jelly Bean getting his face smashed into the floor!

I’ve been trying to get more action shots, just to quicken my pace, and it’s fun to just let my pencil wander over the paper without looking too often. This is charcoal pencil, and I’ve also been working with brush marker, a little trickier…

. . . . . . .

Round, Angry Bean, 2013
"Round, Angry Bean", brush marker, 6.5" x 5.5" © Bernadette E. Kazmarski
“Round, Angry Bean”, brush marker, 6.5″ x 5.5″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

He is not that big and round nor is he angry, but he’s fun. Just like when you go to photograph your pet who’s doing something lovely or funny or sweet, and as soon as they see the camera they stop, so do they when you go to draw them—I think it’s simply because you are suddenly paying attention to them, so they act accordingly.

I admired Bean’s sleek and rounded shape on the stool in the kitchen and then decided I’d sketch him, but as soon as I began, he sat up. I did all I could to make him crouch again, and as he stalked the moving pen I tapped on the table he bunched himself into a big crouch and made his crazy eyes and ears. Sometimes, though, I need three or four hands to pull this off, sketchpad in one hand, pen in the other, gesticulating for cat to pay attention!


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.

"Buster Lookin' at His Toes" desktop calendar, 1280 x 1024 for square and laptop monitors.
“Buster Lookin’ at His Toes” desktop calendar, 1280 x 1024 for square and laptop 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.


Browse some rescued cats and kittens!

FinnBaxter-ad


Subscribe to my e-newsletter

Subscribe to The Creative Cat Preview E-newsletter.


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.


© 2015 | 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!

FACEBOOK | TWITTER | LINKEDIN | ETSY SHOP | PINTEREST | TUMBLR | STUMBLEUPON | GOOGLE+ | EMAIL

HOME


Inspire Me Monday on Create With Joy

Inspire Me Monday
Inspire Me Monday

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.

One thought on “Daily Sketch Reprise: Saturday Morning

  • Love the multicoloured “nap” print. It’s very Warhol 😉 Stopping by from the Inspire Me Monday hop, come say hi!

    Reply

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this:
Verified by ExactMetrics