Tuesday, March 19, 2024
cat artworkcat paintingDaily Featuredaily sketchdesktop calendarfeatured artworkmarketplaceThursdayWednesday

Featured Artwork and May Desktop Calendar: Highlighted Silhouette

pastel sketch of black cat on stool
Highlighted Silhouette, pastel © B.E. Kazmarski

As soon as I knew Mr. Sunshine needed some extra support I decided I’d feature him for May’s featured artwork and desktop calendar. But which artwork would I use? I have many sketches of him, some of which are my favorites. But which one was the most “Mr. Sunshine”?

You can read about my long and arduous process below, but first, about the artwork I chose, “Highlighted Silhouette”!

From 2012 when I posted it:

I admit, I finished this a while after Mr. Sunshine had shifted his position and had a nice bath, but when he settled on the stool next to my drafting table under the work light, it was as if someone had turned my lights on. Usually my sketches are quick and simple since they are just intended to be daily exercises. His exquisite silhouette, the deep shadows, the cool blue-green highlights from the daylight-balanced fluorescents contrasting with the warm pine tones of the stool were just too much, I had to do my best to capture all the color and detail I saw. I worked purple and red and green into his black so that it looked more lively and actually more shaped as well.

I was drawing with both hands at one point, and when I went into the bathroom to wash my hands when I was done it looked as if I’d possibly used my face to blend some of the colors as well; I guess I had some stray hairs brushing across my cheeks and nose and my…décolletage, well, it’s hot, I’m wearing a tank top. But it looked as if I’d been in an accident or a fight and was somewhat bruised. Good thing I washed up before I left the house.

Feline art critics, they are everywhere

I sold this to a friend who has a black kitty and who knows mine well, and here’s what happened when I delivered it; the black kitty is Fromage, my little bottle baby, and the Siamese cat is Cranberry.

two cats looking at painting
Fromage inspects the painting close up, while Cranberry inspects Fromage and the painting!

Choosing “Highlighted Silhouette” to celebrate Mr. Sunshine!

One of those is “Swirling Bath“, which is the one I’d first decided to use because I like it as a piece of artwork. But it’s not so much “Mr. Sunshine” as it is nice artwork and I definitely wanted his purrsonality in the mix. Then there are the two of him on the dishtowels, and the charcoal sketch I call “A Pile of Socks“…

Because I’m kind of on overload with all the upcoming events and things I need to make and TNR and Mr. Sunshine’s care, I couldn’t make a decision, the hard drive in my head was apparently completely full and the operation could not be completed. So I made up a sheet of all the Mr. Sunshine artwork I have and kept it on my desk so I could look the images over and maybe narrow down the choices. I’m interspersing them with the text here, grouping them by medium/color, so you can see what I mean. And also because I’ll be making up other things like note cards to sell that feature him, so I want you to see what’s here.

I finally decided on “Highlighted Silhouette,” which I’ve never even featured or shared that often and I don’t know why, but it has several of Mr. Sunshine’s best qualities. Of the four siblings, and mom too, for that matter, Mr. Sunshine’s fur has always been the blackest, and he has shiny highlights on his slightly plushy fur that enhance his physique. He has the nicest facial silhouette—in fact, he’s the model for “Star of Wonder” because of that very silhouette! And he is very stolid, settling there like a brick, unmovable. And I know that if any of his siblings had settled on that stool I would not have been so inspired by their shape, their silhouette, the light on their fur and the contrast with the top of the stool, I would have seen and created something completely different in that moment—I know, because I have other sketches of them in that same spot.

So “Highlighted Silhouette” it is. That painting is sold, but most of the rest of these you see here are still available. If you’d like to buy a framed original between $50 and $100, let me know! And there is, of course, the dishtowels, featuring cats on dishtowels, who of which are exclusively Mr. Sunshine. The “potato chips” cat sign features Mr. Sunshine’s silhouette again as “Kitty in Pink,” above, as does my design for my “Sitting Pretty” cat pins/magnets.

Where to find this artwork

A New Member Thank You

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

This New Member print is a signed digital print of “Highlighted Silhouette”. This print is 7 x 10 and matted with a pure white mat to fit an 11 x 14 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!


This month’s desktop calendar

I’ve worked this image into a desktop calendar for you to enjoy and use for the entire month.

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, download the image to your gallery then choose it as your wallpaper—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 monitors.
Desktop calendar, 1280 x 1024 for square 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, 330 x 700 for cell phones.
Desktop calendar, 330 x 700 for cell 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 Feline Artwork on my main website.

If you are interested in a print of this image, check 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.


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.


Subscribe to my e-newsletter

Subscribe to The Creative Cat Preview E-newsletter.


© 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!

 
PORTRAITS OF ANIMALS WEBSITE
FACEBOOK | TWITTER | LINKEDIN | PINTEREST | TUMBLR | INSTAGRAM | YOUTUBE| EMAIL | PATREON

HOME

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.

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this:
Verified by ExactMetrics