Featured Daily Sketch: Studio Window, Autumn, November 3, 2014

November 6, 2025 Bernadette

watercolor of black cat on windowsill — “Studio Window, Autumn”, 5.5″ x 8.5″, 2014 watercolor © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

From November 2014 when I painted the sketch: This really happened! Just this afternoon (Monday), and it’s both Mimi and Mewsette.

My studio is actually my spare bedroom, on the second floor. I call it “the treehouse” because outside the window are arching branches from my river birch coming in from the left and a tangle of branches reaching from my maple on the right, the neighbor’s dogwood as well, and behind most of it is my tall spruce. The house faces northwest, so in the mid to late afternoon the sun shines down on all those leaves, but the inside is in shadow; later the sun reaches to the windowsill and onto my drafting table.

I love to watch the change of daylight in all seasons, the pale greens of spring and dark greens of summer, the yellow, orange and red of autumn and the bare branches against the dark green of the spruce, and, of course, my cats. Today, first, Mimi joined me and sat on the windowsill to have a proper bath in preparation for an afternoon nap on my lap, and a little later Mewsette joined us and sat to watch the birds in the trees. They both sat in the same spot, but Mewsette is bigger, but Mimi turned her head the right way. So this is both of them.

I painted it later in the day, from photos and memory, applying the watercolor background first according to what I visualized—my trees are nowhere near that bright, only in my mind, but that is what I wanted, and the blue at the bottom for the cool shadow inside. I referenced the photo for the feline figure, more or less, and the vase with brushes, more or less, since the cats and the vase with brushes are so familiar to me I barely needed the photos. I debated about the muntins in the window thinking they might be too harsh, but decided that was part of the charm of this old window, and would convey that idea to others who viewed it. My window has more bars, but they nearly crossed behind the feline face and went behind the brushes and I didn’t want that, so I moved them, keeping them a little off-center. I also used transparent layers of black instead of solid black as I have in other similar paintings—even though my first impression was of a silhouette, I could see it was not, and there was enough variation in the figures that I would leave some detail there.

And, as I like to say, that’s why we have art, so I can have it the way I want it. The doing of it ran very late because each layer of paint had to dry in between.

From 2025: This is also one of my favorite watercolors. I painted it without guidelines, let the colors blend in the trees, allowed shading in the silhouettes and I’m particularly proud of how it all turned out.

And it’s also an image that is so dear to me—my cats on my studio windowsill. All the years I’ve been here I’ve loved my time in my studio, which was also once my foster room. I often remark how my cats enjoy spending time with me in my studio because they sense my own enjoyment of what I’m doing, and for frightened fosters not only can they sense that but I’m also in a typically non-verbal space, something they and all cats find very comfortable. Sharing my non-verbal self with animals, especially cats, has been one of my lifelong joys, and often a great comfort. My memories of cats sharing my studio with my felines, especially seeing them enjoy the view out the window, are very special.

Most of the leaf color in it is from the maple I had cut down in 2018, and photos of the cats up in the “treehouse” studio while the leaves were turning in years past show up in my daily photo posts. I still miss the tree, and the parade of seasons in its leaves.

Other artwork with my cats on the studio windowsill

It’s also similar to Out the Front Door.t there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item.

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.

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“Studio Window Autumn” on an upcycled spaghetti sauce jar. Read more and purchase.

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.