Daily Sketch Reprise: The Daily Chase, 2015
This is Smokie (now Basil) and Bella in their daily chase around the house. Working in my studio I heard the thundering of little black paws coming up the steps, saw two blurs run across the landing into the bathroom and thump around in the tub, then run across the landing to the bedroom and bounce on the bed, Bella in the lead at one point, Smokie at the next. Not sure where the colors came from but that they are happy and I like them.
This was last night’s sketch but I had too many things piled on my scanner and no place to move them, so I couldn’t scan this image! But I got it on paper, that’s the important thing.
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What else was I sketching on this date?
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Putting On Tights With Mewsette, 2014
Kitties are nothing if not helpful and encouraging, especially if it looks as if we humans are struggling with something. As I balance on one foot pulling my tights up over my other foot and onto my leg and struggle to keep upright, Mewsette sees my imbalance and helpfully does her best to balance me out and keep me from falling with a good body rub against my shin as she wraps herself around my leg. I almost fall down from laughing instead. I could sit down, but this is more fun. So whether it’s my amethyst tights or your stockings or socks or yoga pants or whatever you’re putting on, I hope you enjoy your feline’s assistance gives you a laugh to start the day too.
Obviously, I didn’t draw this in the moment with my hands occupied, and I couldn’t see myself. But as I wear tights often this is a common occurrence and always makes me laugh so I thought I’d illustrate it from imagination.
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Mewsette was settled on the edge of my worktable watching me as I was working on my drafting table. I’m sure she enjoyed her supervisory capacity, but mostly I think she enjoyed the big worklight that was casting warm light down over her head, causing her to doze in and out; one moment I’d look at her and her entire face would be dark, the next her eyes would be open just enough to see them.
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Green Giuseppe and orange Mr. Sunshine watch birds in the bare lilac and at the feeder just outside the window.
No watercolor pencil to fight with tonight, just colored pencil. The only way I could catch the two of them in the act with a sketch, especially one so detailed, is because they kept coming back to approximately the same place and the same position. I lightly sketched their positions the first time they were there, then added a little more each time they returned which made their shapes exaggerated in some areas, like Giuseppe’s tail but it works. They don’t have squiggles either, they just came out of my pencils.
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Sometimes I remark that these daily sketches capture a memory in a very intimate way. I read this text from 2012 and I was right back there, on a sunny March 10 years ago.
So much color on sunny days! Giuseppe and Jelly Bean cuddle on the old purple shawl I keep in a cozy corner of the bathroom for Kelly when she spends her time in there. The boys discovered it this morning and could barely fit on it since it’s folded several times to be nice and thick and to fit Kelly.
With the extra sunlight the purple was vibrant, not so much here but eye-catching nonetheless, as well as Bean’s big citron eyes in his dark face. Poor Bean, I had to keep tapping my pencil on the bathroom door and calling his name to make him look up at me so I could get the details in his face! I can fill them in from memory, but it was an odd angle and I wanted to be sure it was right.
Totally realistic color today, no fanciful green and orange and blue cats! I just loved the way they looked on the purple shawl, such a simple composition, but so graceful and lovely.
I’ve been remembering this one—I was really getting into my stride with colored pencils, which I’d never liked before, until I thought of them as “pencils” and not necessary as a color medium to cover an area, like pastels. I began using the sketchy lines you see in Giuseppe, and carried those over to my ink sketches later. Since then I’ve used them frequently and have even used them for a few illustrations outside of my sketches here. But even though a friend gave me a 50-pencil set a few years ago, though, I still use the very old set of 12 Berol Prismacolor pencils I have from some former art teacher’s stash purchased at an estate sale. I hope she’s happy they’ve been put to use!
Click here to see other daily sketches.
For a gallery of the ones available for sale, visit Portraits of Animals in the “Daily Sketches” section.
Read about the reason for the daily sketches in Three 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 on Portraits of Animals.
Gifts Featuring Cats You Know!
Designed from a Daily Sketch from Portraits of Animals!
This glass votive is etched, embellished and painted by hand and patterned after one of my daily cat sketches, “The Daily Chase”. It’s made from a repurposed stuffed olive jar 2” round and 6″ tall and comes with an LED tea light. Read more and order.
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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And sometimes, I just throw my hands in the air and have fun!
