Bobcat Looking Up 9" x 12"
Pastel on paper
Photo reference by stalksthedawn on WetCanvas.com, my favorite source for photo references with permission. Stalksthedawn has done many wonderful big cat photos and must have lived at the zoo for a while to get them, great photos.
This is the latest in my 2015 Cat Study Project. I'm looking to do more cats, better anatomy, more active poses, putting cats into their environment whether that's my bed or the great wilderness. I have a nice little pen sketch of Ari done from life to post later but might fill those pages in my pocket Moleskine before taking a photo and posting. How I warmed up this morning was stare at the cat and draw him, then proceed to a much wilder cat.
Second art of the day, sketches, not sure if this counts to make up 30 paintings in 30 days but they are fun sketches from life! Double page spread of little Ari!
Second art of the day, sketches, not sure if this counts to make up 30 paintings in 30 days but they are fun sketches from life! Double page spread of little Ari!
Life sketches of my cat in pen
Bit of a breakthrough because I don't usually do double page spreads in my journals. I just don't, but this time it happened with the first sketch. I didn't want to vignette him at the hip so I kept going and put in the whole cat. From there it was just laying out to use the rest of the space well. He had a lazy easy day. That's a big part of his job, laying around being drawn because he's beautiful.
What a beautiful painting! I was thinking of you when I ran across this story of two orphaned mountain lion cubs. I thought you might be interested in the story and perhaps inspired to paint the poor cubs. http://missoulian.com/news/local/charged-with-three-mile-fire-that-orphaned-mountain-lions/article_24beee40-8573-5a65-9ea7-57b91416dbb2.html
ReplyDeleteThanks! That's a great story, but I won't be painting from photo references I don't have permission for. Good idea though. I have some mountain lion references from WetCanvas that I'm planning to use this year.
DeletePlease forgive me, I didn't mean to imply you would ever use a photo without permission. I thought the staff at the Missoulian might grant permission because people from my hometown tend to be pretty nice on the whole.
DeleteThe story just tugged at my heart, I guess I thought of the little cubs as a pair of modern day Smoky the Bears, and I hoped the whole world would see them and care about them.
But there are so many tragedies these days, the world is dying and I think we humans are facing a big die off soon too, and all of it gets so overwhelming, doesn't it?
I remember being a child in the late 60s and the hope I had that we would tackle the problems of the world and make things better.
These days the only balm for my spirit is giving to food pantries and causes I believe in and celebrating the tiny victories, the tiny bits of kindness I am able to give those I come into contact with.
Please forgive me, my grief for the two orphaned cubs got the better of me, was all. I wasn't thinking clearly.
Oh that's understandable. I just focus mostly on my WetCanvas references, where I know the artists gave permission and can reciprocate with my own photos of San Francisco, my cat, various flowers and whatever. The story was inspirational, thank you for linking me.
DeleteI am not sure. I don't know that we'll die off. I don't know how bad things will have to get but there will come a point it has to turn around. I haven't given up hope, hard as this is.