Featured Daily Sketch: Long Morning Shadows, 2014

March 24, 2026 Bernadette

charcoal drawing of cat in morning sunshine — “Long Morning Shadows”, white and black and soft, vine and compressed charcoal on toned paper, 5.5″ x 8.5″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

From 2014: It was decidedly difficult to choose which one of Mimi’s wanderings in the sunlight this morning I would sketch. She wandered around making the most wonderful elongated and distorted shadows of herself in the long streams of sunlight and they were all wonderful. Of course, this has been going on for days. Interpreting this morning sundance at the back door has been years in the making and sketched in pencil, ink, pastel and more.

I chose the toned paper because of the mid-range warm tone and the ability to blend on it, though I wish it had been darker to start with; the lightness kind of threw me off at first. The base in shadow is entirely vine charcoal which dusts off but repeated layers can be built up and burnished into the paper surface. I then applied soft 6B charcoal pencil atop that and blended for extra darkness right around the edges of the shadows, and drew Mimi’s tiny shape entirely in that pencil, blending and filling two or three times to make sure she was darker than the background and solid. A few highlights distinguish Mimi from her shadow.

Looking at it full size I can see it still needs some refinement but while I’d been picturing something more smooth and clear I like it for its roughness, especially where it blends out around the edges.

I left it as it was. When I went back to it, I liked it just as I’d done it.

From 2026: I had always thought of this as a November sketch and am always surprised to see it in March. Usually by this time I’m using other colors even if things aren’t really coloring up outside. But that long angle of the sun changes from around the Vernal Equinox as the sun continues to lift in the sky to its summer angle and those long splashes of sun with the long shadows are gone until autumn. Mimi wanted to go outside precisely because the sun was flowing in the door and it was warm, so inviting. Such an inspiration, her tiny shape wandering back and forth, blending in with the shadows except for her rounded shape.

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You can find “Long Morning Shadows” listed in “My Cats” and “Feline Artwork” on Portraits of Animals.

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.

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Another example of various black and white charcoals on toned paper.

charcoal sketch of black cat — “Bella Birdwatching” revised photo reproduction (more accurate), black and white charcoal on gray toned paper, 5.5″ x 8.5″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

So Bella is an avid birdwatcher. She spends long hours by the big north window watching the birds at the feeder. I spend long hours studying her profile while she does so. I decided to finally sketch her and thought of the toned paper with white and black charcoal, and I also added a bit of pale yellow green in her eye.

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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.