Featured Daily Sketch: Blue-Brown Bath, 2012

November 13, 2025 Bernadette

pastel sketch of cats — Blue Brown Bath, pastel pencil, 8″ x 5.5″ © B.E. Kazmarski

Mewsette gave Jelly Bean a very slow and thorough bath, just right for a sketch for me because they weren’t moving too much.

The blue is really more of a teal and I like that color—it’s in the cup of old pastel pencils I have at my desk so it’s always easy to grab. It wasn’t strong enough to carry the shapes, though, and once I got the teal sketch done it looked a little muddled. I chose the chocolaty sepia to add just an outline for definition, the warm color a nice complement to the cooler teal.

My goodness, I’d almost forgotten about this one—still one of my favorites!

2025: Continuing the blue and brown theme in kitties that I mentioned the other day, this works it differently, defining the two cats with brown though they are sketched in blue. I like the way I captured Mewsette’s and Jelly Bean’s shapes, I could recognize them, and I also the loose interior shading in the blue. As they say, a good drawing is the basis of any image, even if it’s abstract. Grateful to my inspiring felines who led me along to develop my drawing skills!

When I created this sketch I named it “blue-brown bath” and in my mind that’s what it was called, but when I set up the post to share it that day I titled it “Blue Brown Cats” so I couldn’t find the post! I’ve decided to title the post “Blue-Brown Bath” 13 years later because it was that nice slow bath that inspired the sketch. Mewsette was famous for giving her brothers a nice slow bath.

Daily Sketches 2011 to 2015

I think I accomplished what I'd set out to do three years ago today, a challenge to me and entertainment and enjoyment for you: to create a quick sketch of my cats each day as a way to practice and experiment, and present the sketch on that day with no editing, no waiting, no excuses, just to do the sketch and share it.

Read more about the reason for the daily sketches in Daily Sketches: the Idea, Most Popular, Awards.

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.

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Now in its third printing since 2013! 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.

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The original sketch is still available so if you’re interested let me know. I’ll offer it framed for $100. I think I might gather all the others and frame them similarly and have them as a set. Note cards seem likely as well! Let me know if you are interested.

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.