Featured Daily Sketch: Observing, 2012

June 9, 2026 Bernadette

charcoal sketch of two cats — Observing, charcoal pencil, 6″ x 8″, 2012 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

From 2012: Mr. Sunshine and Jelly Bean observing what’s happening outside the front door, mostly involving chipmunks and birds and occasionally Buddy the squirrel raiding the bird feeder.

Direct sunlight rarely comes in this door once the leaves are on the trees, and even before that not often or for very long. Most of the light is diffuse and reflected, which softens the shadows and deepens the darkest areas. For this I am glad they were watching intently because they held still long enough that I could distinguish one from the other in the darkest areas.

This is a medium-hard charcoal pencil.

From 2025: I loved drawing with vine charcoal, its softness and blending, and being able to erase areas to create highlights. But as I did my daily cat sketches in these three years I came to love the compressed charcoal pencils. It was easier to control the charcoal for one thing, but I could get that absolute inky black too. Their shapes are so clear.

From 2026: And I’ll add to the above that vine charcoal is somewhat delicate, brushing away easily, and even kept in a storage drawer or book with protective papers over the charcoal, it wears away so that some of my original vine charcoal drawings are pale compared to the originals. And those compressed pencils—I had run out of them, but then I couldn’t find them anywhere! They were once so common in all the art stores and suppliers and even in craft stores. I found them—in England, and ordered them from Jackson’s Art Supply. I don’t think I’ll use them as often as I did with all those black cats, but the memory of capturing Giuseppe and Mr. Sunshine, for whom always chose those pencils, I had to have them on hand.

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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.