Katie Cat and Four Motivational Links

Katie Cat. © Sydney Harper
8 x 10 inches. Acrylic on hardboard.

Update: I replaced the picture. I kept looking at the painting thinking something wasn't quite right. Then I figured it out. Whiskers! LOL!

I have sketched Katie many times, but I never painted her or any other cat until now. It took me a while to finally say “Done”. I started it in 2009. I would paint a bit, let it sit for a while and then go back to paint some more. Finally I got to the point where I was done with it. There’s some things I would do differently next time but I was ready to move on from this one.

I’m still working on my goals for 2010 so here are four interesting links I found over the holidays. Hopefully they’ll help you, and me, get motivated to do whatever we have been putting off.

• Is there a fear shortage? Seth Godin covers a topic that is a pet peeve of mine.
  
• Beware of Life. Chris Guillebeau covers a similar topic. The comments are worth reading too. Note I’m not proposing that you go out and be reckless, but maybe there is something you keep putting off out of fear.
  
• Get Excited and Make Things! Wil Wheaton urges everyone to quit procrastinating and make whatever it is they have been wanting to make.
  
• Finally, a bit of Patience for the thing you are going to do. This is a lovely video about a book within a book within a… It’s a little over 6 minutes long.

Katie Cat

Katie Cat , pencil in sketchbook
by Sydney Harper

I've been wanting to paint our cat, Katie, for a while now. So lately I've been working on some compositions. This is probably the one I will use. There's not a lot of detail except in the face. Mostly I just wanted to get the primary lines down. The face is where I have the most trouble, so that's where I focused my attention. I drew the eyes several times before they looked right, where I could look at the drawing and say "That's Katie cat."

Katie Cat From Behind

Katie Cat From Behind
copyright Sydney Harper

I'm back from being immersed in taxes, some short trips, and a boatload of work for the past couple of weeks. I've been focusing on doing quick pencil sketches lately. Katie is a good subject since she sleeps a lot, like most cats. I've also been sketching from the Sunrise Earth show on HD Theater. It's not like sketching in plein air but there's subject matter that isn't readily accessible for me. I'm also stuck in planning mode for my next painting. Sometimes I do too much planning, trying to achieve the perfect subject. So I'm determined that I'm going to just start something this weekend. In the meantime, here's something interesting I found.

Explaining Science Through Drawing

Since I have a degree in science, I get a lot of science-related email in addition to art-related and knitting-related email. This article from the National Science Foundation came as a pleasant surprise. It turns out that the act of explaining scientific concepts through drawings helps the illustrator understand the underlying concepts. The next step of this project is to get design students together with science students so they can learn from each other.

Blue Katie Cat

I've been intrigued by Kate Johnson's sketches on colored paper so I thought I would give it try with a pencil sketch I had done of Katie. I like the way it turned out, especially since I haven't had much experience with colored pencils. I may have to try this again sometime. Plus since she's a blue-grey cat, it works well for her.

Also I've added section on the sidebar called "SydneyH's shared items" with interesting blogs I've come across. This list will change over time. If you find something interesting, make sure you save the link.

Experimenting

Where does the time go? One minute I was sketching along and the next minute I was caught up in family stuff. Things seem to be settling out finally. I could use a week of just staying at home but things aren't that calm yet. Enough wishful thinking though. I did manage to play with some techniques. The picture to the left is ATC / ACEO size (2.5 by 3.5 inches) in watercolor and ink. I experimented with several methods. This one turned out the best. I'm definitely going to do some more work with this.