Featured Daily Sketch: Three Warm Cats on a Cool Ground, 2013

September 16, 2025 Bernadette

pastel sketch of three cats — “Three Warm Cats on a Cool Ground”, pastel, 7″ x 10″, 2013 © Bernadette E. Kazmarski

Those warm sunny September mornings and these three together created one of my absolute favorite sketches.

Here’s what I had to say the day I painted it.

Where do these visual inspirations come from? Giuseppe, Mr. Sunshine and Mewsette were enjoying the view as I rode my exercise bicycle, having plenty of time to watch them and the light and visualize this composition. I wanted lots of mixed colors, but muted, indefinite edges, but the sketch in black on top of all the pastel. The light comes in the door and fills the space among them, then fades to shadows behind. I had sketchbook and basic pastels to block in the shapes and areas, then finished it later from a photo. Mostly, I had a really strong visual that stayed with me as I played fingerpaints with my pastels on the paper.

As I watched them and began visualizing, I also envisioned the style of another artist. See if you can guess who I mean before you click here to see this painting and especially this painting.

When I look at them in that spot, morning or afternoon, the painted gray floor is always cool in color though being gray it captures many ambient colors from the sky and the outdoors. The black cats’ fur reflects warm and I see many brown tones. I began with those and let my mind enhance them as I pedaled my bike, using the built-in Photoshop filters in my brain, watching the big pool of light among them, determining which postures I wanted each of them to be in to make a good composition. I both blended the pastels and then painted them on top of what I’d blended for a variety of textures, for full color and muted color, to capture the changing shadows reflected from the sky and trees outdoors. And then, I just did what I felt like doing, adding colors intuitively in shapes that just came to mind. Finally, I sketched their outlines in black pastel atop it all. Unfortunately when I scanned it the pink and purple dusted off onto the cooler areas, but that’s kind of okay.

Why does this reflect August? It was painted just over the edge into September, on September 2, 2013, when it was still plenty hot and feeling like summer. The way the floor turned out, all that turquoise with flashes of darker blue and yellow, made me think of pool water, cool and gently lapping. The red violet, purple, orange and yellow are the colors of summer, flowers and beach umbrellas, bathing suits and pool toys. So as summer winds down, we can enjoy the bright colors, tempered by the muted colors of coming autumn as the season begins to change.

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.

"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.

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

Gifts featuring cats you know! Visit Portraits of Animals

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

Print or Greeting Card from Portraits of Animals

The original sketch is sold, but you can choose another style or size of print of “Three Warm Cats on a Cool Ground” on the product listing. I offer prints as:

digital prints on matte-finish art paper
giclees on art paper
on canvas in standard sizes
as framed prints, as shown, and custom framing is available

You may soon find this image on several gift items

You can find this art and more on Portraits of Animals. Search “Three Warm Cats on a Cool Ground” to find what’s currently available.

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.