Thursday, March 28, 2024
cat artworkcatscharcoaldaily sketchmewsette

Daily Sketch: The Impossible Angle

charcoal sketch of cat looking up
“Reflecting The Impossible Angle”, compressed charcoal pencil, 5.5″ x 6″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

Mewsette wanted to play and sat quietly but intently looking at me to get me to wave that waxed paper backing from double sided tape, and gave me quite the assignment: use three hands to hold the sketchpad with one hand, draw with another, and wave the toy with a third. Not having three hands, I used my drawing hand to save the toy just often enough to get Mewsette to sort of keep looking up, and sketch in between. And it’s one of those angles where nothing works the way you think it should because it’s all upside down! I would say that both Mewsette and I had a great time of it.

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What other sketches did I post on or around this date?

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Mewsette, Apples and Books, 2013
colored pencil drawing of black cat with objects
“Mewsette, Apples and Books”, colored pencils, 8″ x 7″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

There’s something about Mewsette and apples, and about Mewsette and the way she settles herself in among objects, that is always visually inspiring. I could do many black-cat-with-still-lifes when Mewsette decides to settle somewhere in the room with me an meditates, like to day when I’d transferred a bunch of things onto my work table in the studio and Mewsette carefully chose a spot in among them, settled down and watched me.

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Apples, Tangerines and Mewsette, 2012
cat with bowl of fruit
“Apples, Tangerines and Mewsette”, ink drawing pen and marker, 6″ x 4.5″ © B.E. Kazmarski

Mewsette poses with the little stainless steel bowl in my studio holding my green apples and, in this case, tangerines.

“Is this a good pose?” she asks.

Any pose is a good pose for Mewsette.

I love drawing with this pen, and the images I present here really can’t capture the quality of line this pen produces, and how responsive it is to my every movement, drawing even with the lightest touch. I need new markers, though; this older set is finally drying out and the colors are hard to work with.

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Giuseppe From the Back, 2011
sketch of black cat from the back
Giuseppe from the back, charcoal pencil © B.E. Kazmarski

Quite the landscape, Giuseppe, when he crouches with his hips and elbows in the air. It’s a posture I’m sure everyone who lives with a cat finds familiar.

I initially intended to sketch him facing completely away from me, but he turned his head and I liked his profile, that long sloping forehead and regal nose.

I’m still working in charcoal because I’ve been wanting to move to more than just the outlines of each of the cats in action. These are black cats, after all, and it’s their very darkness that I find visually appealing, the contrasts with their eyes and they way their shape is often isolated against a lighter background. This means filling in their shapes somehow, so for Giuseppe I followed the flow of his fur and used the actual shadowed areas as the darkest areas. I wasn’t sure what to do with his face, so I left part of it untouched. Forgot his eyebrows, though; can’t forget Giuseppe’s eyebrows.

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Brotherly Bath, 2011
sketch of cats bathing
Brotherly Bath, pencil © B.E. Kazmarski

Giuseppe and Jelly Bean wrestle every single day at least once in the morning. I’ve been trying to catch their wrestling matches, but I’ll have to pick up some serious speed in sketching before I can capture enough to block it in and finish.

But their wrestling matches always go through a session of “aggressive bathing” where they are still smacking each other and tend to tackle each other but pin the other down and lick them instead of biting. Then all wrestling sessions end up in a bath, usually Giuseppe bathing Jelly Bean, to the Bean’s obvious enjoyment.


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.

"Mewsette on the Afghan" desktop calendar 2560 x 1440 for HD and wide screens.
“Mewsette on the Afghan” desktop calendar 2560 x 1440 for HD and wide screens.

"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.


Gifts featuring cats you know! Portraits of Animals on Etsy.

AfterDinnerNap-Etsy


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 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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