Featured Daily Sketch: Mewsette and Her Apples, 2013

November 20, 2025 Bernadette

marker sketch of black cat with apples — “Mewsette and Her Apples,” brush markers, 4.5″ x 4″ © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

Mewsette really does look as if she has some relationship with the apples since she went to sit right next to them. She was so cute turning to them, then looking around the room as if she was seeing it through their eyes. Her little red and green kittens, purrhaps.

This was fun to incorporate a cat sketch with a still life as well.The light green marker was not the color I expected it to be, but maybe the apple just has different highlights. I did finally find my nice new and juicy black brush marker, and oh, how sweet it was to have a solid black on hand that didn’t dry out as I was working. The red apples also have a mid-range shadow in marker, but I think this is lost on anyone not looking for it. Happy with my new markers!

. . . . . . .

Mewsette is sitting on the white enamel table in the kitchen, and the lights are all above her, one reason for the darker shadows below and the reflected light on the apples. I had placed the apples at the corner of the table to carry upstairs to the studio, and where she settled that wonderful red enamel trim on the table swung around her and the apples in a rounded corner. I had originally intended to include it for the color and the composition it made, but for the sake of this sketch I liked the simplicity of Mewsette with her baby apples.

That red edge, or red, generally, appears in a few other sketches in my kitchen, always in marker, and I’m really liking the composition it makes. One thing I’m considering, whether it be with this sketch or a print of it, is to add that red edge, and create a series of a sort including those with the enamel table with its red edge and others featuring tiny bits of red trim with white enamel and black cats. See “On the Chair” and “The Dishtowel Drawer”, though this second is not the table but the cabinet with the red Bakelite handles and the red gingham dishcloths. There’s also “Lounging on the Dishtowels”. Hmmm…

2020: Dishtowels!

I had this idea in 2019 but my hip replacement slowed me down. However, Covid in 2020 gave me plenty of time to work it out with finding the dishtowels and determining the designs and the best way to apply them to the towels. I had a small heat press to start with, but was able to purchase a used one from a printer; it’s the one I still use today. I had them at my autumn in-person and virtual open house in October 2020 and have carried them since.

I started with the four designs above, four sketches that actually had dishtowels in them. I haven’t—yet—started on the other sketches. We’ll see what comes in 2026.

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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black cat on colorful afghan — “Mewsette on the Afghan”, cropped.

Mewsette nearly blends in with the afghan.

I’ll admit, this took a little longer than the usual 15 minutes maximum. I’ve been holding off the sketches with this afghan just because I knew they’d be time-consuming for part of the charm is the detail of all the colors. Today I could not pass up pretty Mewsette quietly napping on the afghan, especially when she opened her big yellow eyes. I drew the basic sketch in black, then later filled in the colors with every marker I have in the house.

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.