Featured Artwork: Klepto Cat Book 69, “Within a Paw’s Reach”
We did this cover in March 2024, Within a Paw’s Reach, welcoming the flowery garden in early spring. Cats and gardens, that’s a theme for me! And that meant I had more than enough reference photos.
Patricia described the story and her idea:
This is Klepto Cat 69 and I envision Rags with a gorgeous, silver-shaded Persian who has something in her mouth–perhaps a child’s hair bow. The Persian, it turns out, is the klepto cat in this story and she has a stash–not sure we want to show that, or just Rags looming over this adorable Persian as if he caught her in the act. They are outside in the yard of a lovely upscale home–so you can have fun with the landscape design. There could be an arbor behind them with climbing flowers or just a flower garden–maybe a wrought-iron chair ???
That was the basis of it, and though we went through a few iterations it’s what we ended up with.
I have two versions, one with morning glories on the arbor, but that looks a little crowded so I did a draft without them.
I changed this design around every day this week, not sure why I was so unsettled. The first idea with an arbor and a house in the background and one of them on a wrought iron chair would not work, no matter how I tried. So I ended up with this, which I really like but it just looks like they are in a garden, no grand house in the picture.
Then Patricia had a few adjustments.
So pretty and a different pose for Rags. I had a shaded silver Persian many years ago–so this brings back memories. What a sweet cat.
The glove doesn’t work for me. When they catch up to her she’s dragging a gold chain (necklace) . Could we have something like that around her or in her mouth or draped across the chair in front of her? Really, nice pix. This one’s going to make a gorgeous notecard.
An exchange of thoughts…
When you had described this to me you mentioned something like a child’s hair bow, but I thought that might look too much like cat apparel. A glove is a kind of obvious theft, but I like the necklace a lot. I figured this was her house so I thought she should have the higher position. She is a combination of two silver shaded Persians whose portraits I painted in the 90s–they were called chinchilla Persians at that time. Their fur is unique. Yes it will make a gorgeous notecard!
So there we are! Here are the reference photos.
Here’s the synopsis:
Rags delights in this sweet and spirited story.
Valuables are going missing in an upscale neighborhood. Even the authorities are at a loss in this quirky mystery. So they call in Rags, and he sniffs out the very surprising culprit. While on duty, Rags alerts the detective to a heinous crime taking place in their midst and manages to free a battered woman. He saves a group of children from a boisterous dog, then helps in the dog’s time of need. He sounds the alarm that results in the capture of a criminal on the loose, and he changes the heart of a man who had lost his way.
You can find this book on Patricia’s website and on Amazon.com.
About the materials for the cover illustration
I use a self-prepared two-ply illustration board with a very fine surface texture to hold the pastel, and also be able to use other media. It’s not entirely opaque so I can put it on my light table and trace the details in place. I initially started out with a sketch in watercolor but I’ve been using my brush markers more often to block in the colors and especially the dark areas; the markers don’t cause as much ripple in the paper and have cleaner edges than watercolors. Then I put it on my easel and finish it with my pastels, a mix soft pastels and pastel pencils especially for details. Depending on textures I need in the art I sometimes similar weight drawing papers with different textures too.
Getting all the details just right on an illustration like these book covers can be tricky when they are small. Depending on the detail in the illustration, I work them almost twice the final size of the cover—the cover is 5″ x 8″ and I work at 9″ x 12″ or larger.
Other illustration materials I’ve used
I don’t use paper for most of these illustrations but chose Ampersand brand Pastelbord, which is a piece of Masonite with a very fine clay and marble-dust coating that has very little texture but holds layers of pastel so I can both do my finger-painting thing with blending softer pastels and sketch with harder pastels and pastel pencils, and it stands up well to multiple changes. I began the painting with soft pastels to cover the major areas with layers of color. I finished up the details and edges with pastel pencils.
But once I began working out the covers with all this Victorian detail like PAWSitively Sinister, I needed a little assistance in keeping the details in order so it didn’t take me until next year to do the painting. Especially when working with patterns it’s important nothing is out of place or it’s immediately noticeable. I start with a complete composite that I’ve built in Photoshop using all the photos and images and art so that Patricia can see just what it will look like, and I have all the details in place. It’s far more difficult to correct an illustration than a Photoshop composite, which I can adjust infinitely. That way, when I get to my actual painting, all the decisions have been made and I just need to paint.
I use a self-prepared two-ply illustration board with a very fine surface texture to hold the pastel, and also be able to use other media. It’s not entirely opaque so I can put it on my light table and trace the details in place. I start out with a sketch in watercolor and even marker to block in the colors and especially the dark areas. Then I put it on my table and finish it with my pastels, first the soft pastels for coverage, then pastel pencils for details.
Depending on the detail in the illustration, I work them sometimes twice the final size of the cover. Getting all the details just right on an illustration like these book covers can be tricky when they are small.
About these book covers
I’ve illustrated over 70 covers for Patricia over two series of cat mysteries. You can see the Klepto Cat covers below and search “Klepto Cat” to find all the posts.
Klepto Cat Book Covers
CWA 2018 and 2022 Muse Medallion AND Certificate of Excellence for “Illustration: Series”
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Patricia publishes nearly a dozen books each year and I’ve entered the covers since 2015. I’ve won a Certificate of Excellence each year for either or both the Klepto Cat Mysteries and the Calico Cat Mysteries, and often won a MUSE™ Medallion too.
2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022
Click the links above to see the other awards.
All books are available in electronic format and most for print on Amazon.com as well as find the print versions on Patricia’s website. Reviews have been good, and a few reviewers have even mentioned the covers! I hope you enjoy these books, and Patricia and I are currently working on the next cover. That woman can write!
When we finished book 12 we also updated the two-sided bookmark that includes all twelve books so far which Patricia can hand out at book signings and book shows.
We’ve also printed several runs of note cards from multiple covers, including a Christmas series.
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Read more about book covers I’ve designed. Also, click here to read more about the Purrs of Wisdom cover and bookmarks, and also about books I’ve designed on my blog, What’s New?
Are you interested in illustrations or a book cover, or book design? Please contact me, I’ll be happy to discuss your project.
Featured Artwork
Each week on Wednesday I feature a piece of artwork, sometimes a current or historic portrait, sometimes an illustration or an art project from years ago, usually cat-themed, but sometimes wildlife or even non-animal subjects, and even projects from my commercial art life. Read other Featured Artwork posts.
Custom Commissioned Artwork and Illustrations from Portraits of Animals
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From Animal Portraits to Book Covers to Advertisements
In addition to creating commissioned portraits beloved animal companions for the past 25 years, I’ve also been a commercial artist since the 1980s both full-time and freelance and created many illustrations, book covers, advertisements, display signs and more. Visit my Commissioned Artwork pages to read more. They are not quite complete at the moment but there is still quite a bit to look at.
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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I always love these covers, and your explanation of how they come about is fascinating.
That is a great cover, so pretty.