Featured Daily Sketch: In Afternoon Sun, 2012

June 5, 2026 Bernadette

"In Afternoon Sun", ink brush pen and watercolor, 8" x 10" © Bernadette E. Kazmarski — “In Afternoon Sun”, ink brush pen and watercolor, 8″ x 10″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

From 2012: Mimi enjoys her daily sunbath while Mewsette watches the birds in afternoon sun from my studio window on the second floor.

One more experiment with this brush pen, partly just because it was there. I love it when the cats are partly lit by sunshine, and dramatically. Here it pours in the window from nearly directly above, just enough to highlight them where they are near the window but leaving the rest in silhouette.

I didn’t want to leave out their mahogany highlights, so I’ve added those. Because the second floor window looks right out into a maple tree from this angle, I wanted to catch the dappled and speckled effect with watercolors. Not sure how well I like the speckles, perhaps I’ll try a bigger brush next time to get bigger blotches.

From 2026: My goal with my daily sketches was not only to keep creating art, even just a little bit, each day, but also to experiment and improvise. This sketch is in style and technique something I dreamed years of doing, and yet here I was, only six months into my daily sketches and I produced this. I’m still proud of that. And it turns out that those speckles stood the test of time and I really like them.

Original and prints

You can find this painting in the original and as prints on paper and canvas on Portraits of Animals. I have four different products where it appears below, but they are older and I haven’t made them again for a few years. I printed it on some note cards and I’ll see what else I come up with this year.

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.

"Feline Style Sampler" book of sketches and portraits.

A collection of 34 images of feline artwork

**The award-winning* Feline Style Sampler**

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.

*Certificate of Excellence, Cat Writers' Association 2014 Communications Contest

Gifts Featuring Cats You Know!

Fine Art • Photography • Gifts • Greeting Cards • Books • Commissioned Portraits & Artwork

In Afternoon Sun keepsake box

In Afternoon Sun votive

In Afternoon Sun Cabochon

In Afternoon Sun gift bag

I’ve always liked this painting, and I’ve applied it to many gift items too. A pendant in a keepsake box and a votive, and all of it in a gift bag, all with the same design, would make a unique gift for someone who loves two black cats! You can search Portraits of Animals for all the gift items I have in stock with this design by using the keyword search box and putting the title of the artwork in quotes, “in afternoon sun”.

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.