The Cat Did Put it There!

The next part of my “The Cat Put it There” series! Following my first two art journal drawings on that theme, I decided to create a digital version of it. And what is this all about? To recap from my previous blogs: I noticed a lone seashell lying in the middle of our flower-bed the other day. We don’t even live near the sea so how can that be? A bird perhaps or it somehow got mixed in the soil during transport. Who knows. “Maybe the cat put it there”, joked my boyfriend. “Cats like fish, right? So the cat put the shell there!” Interesting logic. Yet cute. And here I began imagining how these naughty cats could possibly be mischievously placing a lone seashell in our garden. Then of course followed a little art journal doodle… and now paintings! Let’s start with digital art…

Initial Sketch

Opening up my Procreate app, I set about my “pencil” sketch. A cute and simple one. This time, I thought I’d have another practice with drawing cats in a different position; here she is walking towards us! It’s a sketch that was inspired by Japanese illustrator Shozo Ozaki who does a lot of cute cat paintings. And here she is, surrounded by the offending shell accompanied by a fish she had just gobbled up! And we love that naughty happy expression.

Little Furry Cat

And now let’s color her in! First, I made the background blue, seeing that I wanted to make the cat ginger orange, two shades which compliment each other. The cat was then filled in with some orange with a Soft Fine Grainy Spray brush followed by an Overlay blending mode before adding a new layer. And this is the fun part: Introducing some texture for her! We love that set of Fur Brushes created by illustrator Eldar Zakirov incorporating such wide range of possibilities that it’s difficult to determine the most suitable for this cat! After a few trials and errors, I settled for Fur no. 14. In order to let the fish and shell stand out, I went for neon tube from the Lights Brush set. The Shell was then sprinkled with some glitter from one of the Gold Rush brushes using a clipping mask on a new layer. So far looking good!

New Background

I changed my mind about the background color and decided to go for green instead, initially mint green. Another layer was added on which I added stamps and a retro scumble whilst changing the blending mode to Saturation for added effect. A few details were then doodled in with the Neon Tube from the Lights brushes including the cat’s collar and the flower in the background. That flower, by the way, symbolizes one of the flowers in the garden bed in which the shell was found. Finally the cat’s eyes were further enhanced by going over them with a dark grainy scribbler. And now!

Another enjoyable session with Procreate! Experimenting with the various brushes is so much fun when uncovering the different possibilities. Mastering the Fur brushes is still a challenge whilst I try to find which one is most suitable and how to apply it most effectively. Practice makes perfect of course. The same applies to drawing cats posing in different positions. Nevertheless, such challenge makes creating all the more exciting. Looking forward for more! And now for more variations of this cute cat and shell theme…