Transition

The last two weeks of art class involved landscapes and pets.  Working on a landscape that I started, but did not finish, and one that I did finish brought back all my insecurities in a surprising way.  Given that and the end of class, I stumbled a bit, but pushed through to not lose the painting habit.  

Here is the landscape that I brought to class.  

The week had some unexpected demands on my time, so I only painted on Sunday and Friday and I rushed the ending to just get it done.  At the same time, one of the lessons from Kat really sunk in about squinting and look for big shapes.  When I was mostly done, I caught a glimpse of my photo across the room, squinted and saw that my reference photo was mostly made up of 3 sets of shapes from the greenery along the edge, the bowl of the falls and the falls.  I don’t think I tend to notice things with this type of cohesion and I think this will help as I continue to practice.  

Here are a couple of cat paintings. 

One thing I want to focus on is paint strokes!  When I’m doing simple objects like fruit, I like the blockiness I get a lot of the time.  With a complicated structure, I don’t know what to do.  So much to learn!  

One of the people in class mentioned copying paintings off of Pinterest and she had an owl painting.  I went out and pinned some cat and owl paintings and.want to work off of some of these to see what I can bring back to my paintings.  I’m not sure it’s appropriate to post a picture of the entire copy, so here’s a partial.  

It was a good learning experience.  I’ve never done this and think I could learn a lot.  

Best of all, I am still painting and will continue to post, but probably not as much as I did the first few years after I started.  

Happy Holidays!

 Happy holidays from Hammett and me.  

A few days ago, a dumped out a tub of my hats, gloves, and scarves on the bench in the kitchen.  Hammett immediately jumped on the pile and went to sleep. Later, I decided it was time for Hammett to hone his hat-modeling skills. I've continued to torture him in this way for the past few days.    

I've been gone from this blog for awhile and I also have not been drawing or painting.  I'm getting back to a place where I think I'll be starting up all of it again, shortly.  

What To Keep and What Can Go

I went through a lot of my drawings and most of them went away in this morning's recycling. The sketchbooks and loose papers were starting to take up too much space and there was not a reason to keep most of them. This blog captures what I want to capture for the most part, since it’s good to be able to look back.

There is a difference in looking at a picture of what I created with my hands versus looking at the actual thing and because of that, the things I kept take me back to a place I wanted to go and want to be able to return to, for now. In making this determination, I kept the bar very high, so I did not keep much.

Since both of my gray cats are gone, I kept some of the drawings of them. I also have kept the very first painting I ever did of a cat and Ella was my subject. It’s not very good, but it was the best I could do at the time and it makes me smile when I look at it. I posted about it here.

This is one of drawings that I kept. It goes back all the way to July 2017, so it was about 1 1/2 years into the drawing and painting journey. I posted about it here. It's a small, simple drawing, but it brings back very good memories. 

A Big Warm Hug

I finished the crocheted afghan blanket last night.  When it was done and I put it on my lap, it felt like a big warm hug. Even better, it attracted a cat.  More accurately, of course, it attracted a cat.

To counteract all of the ugliness taking place in my community, I wish I could offer a moment of peace and comfort to anyone who needs it.

Art 4 Shelter - The Cats In Knitted Hats Series

Today, I finished portrait #6 of a cat in a knitted hat and I think it might be the end of the cats in knitted hats project, at least for awhile or at least for Art 4 Shelter for this year. The first 3 were dropped off awhile ago, along with several other pieces. I will get the last 3 dropped off some time soon.

Although I posted about the project from the time it started back in January, I wanted one post where I can go back and look at all of them easily. Here they are in reverse order. The first two were 8" x 10".  The rest are 5" x 7".  

All of these, except for the first one were drawn from project photos on Ravelry. Looking up cats in knitted hats on Ravelry was a pleasant diversion during the pandemic and the people I reached out to kindly gave me permission to use their photos. I included each cat's name, even though the cats in question might have preferred to stay anonymous.

While it was fun working on these and I found that I adore the Neocolor crayons, it was also a good learning experience. I had to work on creating backgrounds, making minor to major adjustments from the source photos, and finally working a piece to completion. It also was a good challenge to mostly work on smaller pieces, since that's what Art 4 Shelter prefers.

Since I am adding some additional information to this post. I traded several messages with Sylvester's owner via Ravelry and it turns out that he was a rescue cat, actually a bottle-fed kitten rescued at 2 weeks old . It's nice that the (hoped for) sale of the art inspired by his cat-in-a-hat picture on Ravelry will support Simpson Housing Services in providing service to 1 person for 1 night at their shelter.  

#6 - Sylvester

#5 - Habibi

#4 - Kaki

#3 - Penny

#2 - Wolfie

Last, but not least, here is the cat who started it all. If Chandler was not such a sweetie and let me place my partially knitted brioche hat on top of his head and take a picture, none of this would have happened. Since that time, he has developed more sense and does not pose for hat-related pictures. 

#1 - Chandler

You Would Think After Five Years I Would Remember

You would think after five years I would remember to stop mid-way through, step away, and view what I am working on from a distance, but I don't.  When I'm done, either with "the session" or on a piece, I will finally step away and take a look.  As a result, I get surprised by my own results.  

Up close, I thought the face and eyes were okay.  From a proper viewing distance, I am really pleased.

I keep saying it, but I love the Neocolor crayons and I also really enjoy layering. 

It’s Absurd and Ridiculous

That’s what these drawings of cats in hats are.  Absurd and ridiculous.

Cat in Knitted Hat #4

They are also a lot of fun and they make me smile.  Nuff said.

I Am Not A Reindeer

 I am not a reindeer.

I did not voluntarily dress up as a reindeer.

I do not want to play any reindeer games.

Wolfie Contemplates the Choices He Has Made In His Life

So far, I have heard back from 4 people, who have given me permission to draw from their photos of a cat in a hat. Meet Wolfie. To me, he looks as though he (or maybe she, I don’t know) is contemplating every choice he has every made in life which has led him to this point. Actually, he looks like a good-natured cat who is hoping this will be over soon. 

This project is going to be a fun challenge. For this one, I had to make up the body below the chin, since the cat was being held by a person and because of that, I also had to jazz the background. It also was challenging to figure out how to try and capture values of a dark gray and white cat in an interesting manner.  Lastly, it was way different trying to capture this hat rather than the brioche hat in my first drawing which start all of this. Simple brioche knitting looks like columns and that was easier to do. 

That doesn't take away any of the fun of this project or working on this drawing.  

In closing, it always surprises me when eyes are in shadow, how little is needed to capture them. I also really like the right side of the face (which is lighter).  The value transitions built believable volume and shape, especially on that side.  

How Many Cats In A Hat?

So I decided to do a little rework of my portrait of Chandler in Neocolor color II crayons and I like this slightly revised version better. By the way the pattern on Ravelry is this one, although when I took the picture this drawing was based upon the hat was only about 1/2 done.  

I had so much fun doing this that I would really like to do more portraits of cats in hats and I was thinking about donating them to Art 4 Shelter. However there's a problem with this plan.  Both orange cats have more or less decided that they do not like having their picture taken while wearing a hat.  The best follow up picture that I've gotten of Chandler is this one.

Hammet is even less cooperative.  Although I can't really blame either of them.  

Here's my possible solution. In 2015, an author by the name of Sara Thomas came out with a book called "Cats In Hats" with 30 separate knit and crochet patterns. I just went on Ravelry and looked for projects linked to the patterns in this book and am reaching out to the people who made projects and who took the best project pictures featuring a cat, which I think I could use for a drawing.  

I'm partially writing this blog post, so I can include a link to it when I reach out to these people and ask permission to use their photo.  

Wish me luck!   

Should Not Have Been A Surprise

I think my partially knit, brioche hat either makes him look like a king, a bishop, or a pharaoh and it works much better cropped. 

Than, not cropped. 

Although I thought the proportions in the picture were off when it came to the front legs and paws and how the back of the body cut off, I decided to try and draw it as is.  That was not the best decision.  

It was an especially silly mistake to make since I freaked out earlier this week when I wanted a straight on picture of myself to compare with a self portrait that I drew.  I tried taking a selfie and was appalled at how my face looked.  The first thing I notice was that the ears on the side of my head looked really small and the rest of my face just looked weird.  I had Daniel take a picture and my face looked normal.  After that I did a little research and found this.  

I must be the last person in the world to take a selfie and to become aware of this phenomenon.  It's not just selfies, of course.  Chandler was on my lap, so this was a really close up picture as well. 

Last, but not least, I am having a blast with the Caran D'Ache Neocolor II crayons. 

Some Ears and A Cat

As I work through the book, Drawing on the Right Side of Your Brain, in January, the exercises are focusing on portraits.  Even though I’ve been using the skills in this book, it is still hard to see and draw what you see, rather than being impacted by the symbols in your head.  Ears have been a stumbling block.  It’s not just seeing the shapes.  There are also a lot of details so there are decisions about what is needed what is not.  

Since I have been struggling with the basic shapes of and within the ear, today, I sat down, looked at some profile pictures or Sktchy where I could zoom in on the ears, and practiced drawing.  For some of them, I did the upside down trick.  Looking at those ones on the top makes my head do a loop-de-loop.  For others, I went right side up.  These are way more detailed than what would go into a portrait, but I figure if I understand them better, hopefully, I can make better decisions.  Here's the part of the page where I was working on the whole ear.

I still haven’t figured out how to balance drawing and painting.  It's hard to find time to do both in one day.  Since my January project is about drawing, I am trying to paint when I have some extra time.  Rather than rushing, I am working to slow down, which also means working on thumbnails. 

It’s weird how sometimes things just work.  This one was short, easy, and quick.  I wasn't fussy and did worry about the making a good drawing.  It reads better than many of my paintings.

I worked on this painting over the last few days.  It’s a little fussy.  I should have stopped sooner.  I like composition and I think the values work.  Having the thumbnail helped with that. Although, there is a spot on the right under the eye which should be darker. 

#371 - A Little Orange Sunshine - 8" x 8" - paper

It felt good to paint a cat.  It’s been a long time. 

Still In The Textures Class

I'm still in the Texture's class and have been working on homework. The last set of videos drop tomorrow. 

I also still have cats who like to get in way when I take photos to document my work.

The End Of An Era

My partner and I made the difficult decision to have Dorian Gray put down this morning. 

On July 29, 2002, we brought home two adorable gray kittens, who were approximately 3 months old, from the vet. They were from Wadena MN, where one of the vet's sisters lived. In early July, we had asked to be put on a list to be notified when the clinic had kittens and this was the 2nd time the clinic had called.

The first time they called, the timing was terrible. It was right before we were leaving on vacation. We went to see them anyway. Who wouldn't?  It was a Friday morning of a tough work week for both of us and it was a chance to play with kittens. This was a larger batch of kittens and they were around 2 months old. They were sweet, but the timing was bad and I didn't feel an immediate attachment.

I was at work on a Monday morning when the vet called the second time, she said that she only had 2 kittens this time, but they were both sweeties.  She was tempted to keep the one, which turned out to be Dorian (in fact that was what the vet was going to name her), but she didn't want to split them up.  I immediately called him at work and said I wanted to go look at them at lunch that day. We went and when one gray kitty got placed in his arms and one in mine, I was instantly hooked.  At one point, he turned to me and asked "what do you want to do", which was immediately responded with "I want to take them home".  The follow up question was "when" to which I replied "now". 

We were planning to get kittens and had all of the supplies, including cat carriers,  We did not have the carriers with us, so Daniel got to hold on to two squirmy balls of gray fur on the way home.  

This is the first decent picture I ever took of the both of them way back in 2002. They both grew into those ears.

We lost Ella Phant in September of 2018 and we lost Dorian this morning.

It is the end of an era. 

I loved both of these cats so very, very much. I don't think it takes anything away from Ella, but I wrote in my journal yesterday and have included the following thought as I have told several people today about Dorian.  If someone wrote a book after the very best relationships throughout time between a cat and her person, there would be a chapter in there about Dorian and me.

She was a sweet, sweet, but, also, very reserved cat. She would not smile for the camera. Several early and bad attempts at using a flash when taking her picture resulted in a lifetime of pictures of her scowling. This is not how I picture her in my mind, but this picture makes me smile because it shows her at the extreme end of her scowling and annoyance at being photographed. 

I miss you, my sweet Dorian Gray.

Smug Or Annoyed

 Last week, I met a friend in a park along the St. Croix River on the Wisconsin side for lunch on a picnic table and to paint. It has been a long, long time since I picked up a paint brush. Since then, I’ve painted on average every other day. Drawing has been sporadic. 

I started this on Monday and finished it last night. I like the nose, which I usually overwork, but didn’t this time, and I like the suggestion of the body. Next time, my goal is to not overwork the paint strokes. There was an energy when I stopped on Monday which disappeared by the time I finished.  Also, the light side of the cat should be lighter and brighter colors. 

In the painting, Hammett looks annoyed, while in the source photo it’s more of a mixture of smugness with a dose of mild irritation. 

#368 - Waterfall Legs & Paws - 5” x 7” - paper

The source photo is one I will return to. I like the drape of the legs and paws. In the source photo, the cat  is being held by his person, D. I didn’t want to show the person in the painting, along with the hands and cell phone which was also being held, although I’m not sure the background works.

I Decided To Share

I finished the painting of Chandler. It's the one I mentioned in my last post that I was fighting. This morning, I looked at it with an editing eye and saw some things to fix. One correction I made, which was glaring this morning, but not yesterday, was that the right side of Chandler's muzzle was a little lighter to about the mid-point of his eye. Originally, I painted it too dark. This improved things quite a bit.

I decided to share it after all.

#367 - Chandler On Green - 11" x 14" - paper

Currently, it's hanging on the basement wall above the chest freezer.

There are a lot of layers of paint in this one. I'm not too fond of the ears, but I do like the clarity of the right eye. I also like how his white chest turned out. Whiskers are easier on a big painting!

Backgrounds are still a mystery. This is one area where I also seem to have these silly preconceived ideas and "rules" in my head and I don't know where they come from. This time, I decided to ignore the background from my source picture, try to stay true to the relative values, paint a bunch of greens which don't match or go together, and to leave some "harsh" changes between colors to fight back against these preconceived ideas. It actually was hard to do.

Next time, I might try to just do color blocks of different colors.

Also, I painted up another 11" x 14" piece of paper, since I enjoyed (and got frustrated with) working larger.

The Latest

It’s been a productive week. I am making an effort to draw and paint every day, while also finding the balance between pushing myself to do it without becoming too militant about it. For drawing, my plan is to work on drawing a simple object with crosshatching each day in January. So far, I’ve done two drawings for the first 4 days of January. Here’s one.

In addition to getting better at crosshatching, I want to figure out better which direction to crosshatch when building a particular shape. This does not come naturally to me at all. I hope this will cross over into better paint strokes.

Here is the last painting of 2019 and the first one of 2020.

#360 Mandarin - 5” x 5” - paper

#361 Yellow Pepper - 5” x 5”

My 17-year old cat, Dorian had surgery on Thursday. I am so grateful that it all went well. She has to endure 11 days of wearing a cone, so she can’t disturb her sutures. Once she is past that, she should be happier and healthier. I am so relieved that surgery was successful, that I decided to do a painting of her. She is one of my favorite models. I love to paint from pictures of her and to take pictures of her. However when she was a kitten, I used the flash too many times, so she almost always scowls or has a fierce expression for the camera. 

I liked the drawing.

The painting is okay. I didn’t like it last night, but today it doesn’t seem so bad, except for the whiskers. 

#363 - Dorian - 6” x 6” - hardboard

One of Three Completed

Since I last posted, I have tried several cat paintings. The first two attempts, I abandon early. That's not a habit I want, so I finished this one.

#350 - Mr. Biggs - 6" x 6" - hardboard

It's funny, but I never felt like I settled in with any of the three paintings.

One Of My Favorite Models

I've been dabbling a bit here and there. As part of that, last night, I picked up a pen and drew my tea kettle. It released or unlocked something and I think my hiatus is over.

I started this last night and finished it today.

#345 - Dorian Gray - 6" x 6" - paper

Dorian has always been one of my favorite models, although it is hard to get a decent picture of her. I used the flash too many times when she was a kitten, so she looks down or away when I have a camera.  I'm always very happy to have a good photo of her that I can use to paint.

Given that I feel very, very rusty, I am pleased that this really does look like her.

Levitating Cat

This ends a very, very long break from my blog. Wow.  Habits are easy to keep when you keep them going and hard to start back up when you don't.  My hiatus started right before I left on vacation (juggling convention in Fort Wayne IN with a stop in Milwaukee for several days before the convention started - - thanks for asking).  Since returning, I have not been good about carving out time to draw and paint (or blog) for various reasons.  The most recent excuse is a delicious one.  The black raspberries in my yard are blessing me with abundance.  I'm spending around 30 - 45 minutes each day harvesting.  Most of them are going into the freezer to enjoy throughout the rest of the year.

The first day back from vacation was for laundry and other type of re-entry-related tasks. Plus, I started this painting. It's the second try of one of my last paintings.  I love how this cat's paws just spill over the side of the bunk bed.  There is an ease in how cats use their bodies which fascinates me.  Maybe, I should take some pictures that aren't so focused on the face, but rather the cat's overall pose, and try to paint from those.  It would be a good excuse to work in a more rectangular format and to try to build volume and shapes with paint.

I like the start and, in truth, am afraid of messing it up.  Silly, I know.  It's just on paper.  I can (and will) always paint another one.  I will finish this soon.  Until that point, meet the levitating cat.  I left more black gesso peeking through the body of the cat, but in truth, it could use even more.

Two nights ago, just to pick up a paint brush, I spent several minutes and painted two color wheels. For one I used the greener shade of blue.  In the other, I used the redder shade of blue. I only used one layer of color and am pleased with the coverage/opaqueness in the yellows, oranges, and reds.