Getting Catty

Yesterday I was at my art classes and there was a little cute cat there! Our tutor was apparently looking after Mika-chan whilst the owner was on holidays. Cheeky little cat she was! Slithering around whilst we were all painting and sidling next to some of us to get attention but when you start stroking her, Meow! Raises her paws and tries to attack you or even attempts to bite! Nah I’m sure she was just messing around and wanting to play. In the end she got so tired she started lying down on the sofa right where our handbags and belongings were also laid. When I went to grab my stuff to go home, meow! She woke up looking rather “do you mind, am trying to sleep”! Oops…

But hey that’s cats for you. Charming but but cheeky. So when I got home I was still itching to draw even though I had spent a few hours earlier painting intensively. Got out my Tan Toned sketch paper by Strathmore and did a quick animated drawing of guess what! The cat! Firstly started outlining in charcoal pencil then filled in with sepia conté sticks in light and dark sepia as well as white chalk where appropriate. I recommend the conté and charcoal pencils by Koh-i-Nor and the lose sticks called Artist’s Leads by Cretacolor. Ok the cat is not quite in proportion especially the front legs but that’s what makes the drawing more kawaii!

This is a great way to practice shadow and highlight techniques. Ideally it’s best to go for monotone using just black charcoal and white chalk to really have a good idea of light and shade. Today though I wanted to capture the brown-ness of the cat. I’ll keep it in mind to discipline myself with just charcoal and chalk. That’ll be a fun challenge!