Good Night Princess

On September 2nd 2015 at 8:30 PM, my beloved kitty Starz had a heart attack in the middle of playing with her favorite toy. She did not make it. Starz was fifteen years old. She'd been with me most of my life and practically all of hers. I miss her so much that I'm almost physically ill.

On September 3rd 2015 at 5 PM, I adopted Jenny from the nearby Humane Society. She cannot replace Starz. No creature can. But she can make it easier for me to adjust to life without my best furry friend. She needed me and I needed her.

I drew this for some self therapy, and because I like to think that Starz is okay with all of this.

Week 29: The Handsome Prince

The short amount of time it took to finish this impresses me. It also impresses me that it turned out about how I wanted. A lot of the time when I try to draw a portrait of a cat, it doesn't work out. Maybe it's because Yoda was such a regal, handsome prince that it turned out so nicely.

I'm going to miss you, Yoda-bear, and I know your mommy does. Make sure you get on bathing Ludwig right away. We all know he hasn't bothered to do it.

Week 29: Increase of Fluff

As I remember him, there is no way I can over-emphasize the amount of fluffy on this cat. His fur was fabulous.

Week 29: Ode to the 'Bear'

Yesterday, before I had any idea what to draw this week, I learned that one of my close friends had to have her very old, very sick, but very sweet kitty Yoda put down. I have a lot of fond memories of that cat and he was loved by all whom he granted the honor of petting him. After learning that 'Yoda-bear' had passed, I decided that I needed to do an artistic tribute to him, as a gift to his "Mommies".

This is just the start but I think it'll turn out nice.

Look at this majestic, fluffy beast:

Week 22: Goodnight Sweet Prince

Somehow this week I didn't get around to posting any progress, but it's done now.

Near the beginning of May my brother's 17 year old cat, Sonic, passed away. I wasn't there and don't live close enough to pay my respects in person, so I did it in my own way. He was part of my life for several years while our family still lived together and I'm going to miss him.

Sonic always looked unimpressed, as I suppose life in general did not impress him unless there was a tuna can being opened or a ball of aluminum foil on the floor. Even laser pointers bored him.

He was also not especially social, but he wasn't mean either. He was indifferent to the existence of most humans save for my brother. Being graced with his presence on your lap was a big deal, especially if you got him to purr. Unless, again, you were my brother. Because my brother was his favorite thing.

I always enjoyed his aloof passive-aggression, and enjoyed picking him up just to annoy him with belly rubs. Seriously he had the fluffiest spotted tummy. And it was irresistibly round. It demanded rubbing.

Week 25: Seeing Starz

Happy late 4th of July everyone! Whether you're American and it's Independence Day or in another country where it's just another day on the calendar I hope it was a good one.

This is a couple days late, I realize. I thought I was going to call it done Wednesday night but I really truly hated it and was too exhausted to fix it. But after an unexpected day off it looks much better and I daresay worthy as a thank you gift to the veterinary clinic that helped Starz. I changed the background because it will be printed out and that would have been a lot of ink.

On a related note, Starz is doing better but still has to be force-fed. Sigh.

Week 25 Is Homeward Bound

Starz came home this evening. First she pouted under Mom's bed, and then after I forced medication down her she pouted out on the balcony. Now she's sitting just a little ways from me on the sofa and not quite ready to forgive. Hopefully that will change tonight and she'll end up sleeping with me.

Week 25 - Sweet Child O' Mine

For the last three days my dearest kitty Starz has been at the vet recovering from a month-long hunger strike. During that time I've force fed her, took her to a different vet twice who didn't help her much, and over-all worried and stressed until it became clear she was dying and something drastic had to happen. I miss her terribly and am hoping to bring her home this weekend.

Since she's pretty much constantly on my mind and I would like to have a nice piece of art as a thank you to the animal hospital staff once she's better, I dedicate Week 25 to a portrait of her. I'm going with digital media since that will make it easier to blend and show her lovely colors.

Week 13: Some Colored Silliness

Ellie and I are now colored in all our silly-looking glory. I see no need for anything besides flat coloring, partly because my usual method of shading wouldn't work and partly because I still have one more to color and would rather not over-do it. Also I decided to add the shopping cart lines on the last one in SAI. Can't be bothered with trying to make straight edges in pencil and ink.

Week 13's Silly Artist and Silly Cat

Despite only doing one idea sketch of my "self portrait", I went ahead with the actual drawing. It was actually incredibly relaxing and entertaining. Emphasizing certain features doesn't damage self esteem as much as you might expect. Actually it makes them easier to accept.

This isn't inked yet, but I started the drawing of Ellie, too. I think she needs to be fluffier and goofier. Before anyone gets offended by her eyes, I drew them that way because A) I'm exaggerating a feature she already has and B) it's a cute detail.

Week 4.2

After last week's blog titles it looks like it would just be easier to use lyrics from a different song each week because I clearly lack the motivation and energy to give them decent titles most of the time. Will make note of this for Week 5...

For now, however, I made an acceptable amount of progress on the anatomy comparison. Somewhere between last Spring semester and this one I clearly forgot how to draw legs, however. Clearly it's time to sit down and draw two pages of nothing but legs so it's beaten back into my memory.

Also the painting is back, for better or worse. It figures that the most important part is the most challenging. Sigh. We have an in-progress critique tomorrow.

By the way, I typed this entry around a cat who is very insistent upon having her cuddles. You're welcome.

Towards the Finale

The bottom portion of the painting has become about what I wanted and also taken a direction of it's own that surprises and pleases me. The upper half is proving challenging but I believe the end result will be something great. We have a progress critique in class today, so we'll see where it goes after that. It's hard to believe that this is the last painting of the semester.

It's also hard to believe that Christmas and even 2012 are just a few weeks away. I have every intention of starting over again on my Weekly Art despite having two art studios next semester. But maybe that'll help more than hurt?

Also, here's my humble apartment Christmas tree with Barbie ornaments that my late grandmother gave me every year for quite a while. When I got up this morning my cat had knocked it on its side on the floor. Good thing all my ornaments are plastic.

Week 20: Hairy Situation

Finally back to working on this today, and recalling that "oh yeah, fur's kind of a pain...". She does need more orange and I'll be adding black flecks in to blend it better. Surprisingly, her face is the easiest part right now. I expected it to be the most difficult.

The background color will be changed, but right now it's not a priority. Also yes, her eyes will be adjusted. i just didn't want a creepy-looking pupil-less cat.

Background noise: Youtube playlist, mostly Hunchback of Notre Dame music.

Week 20: Meow

This weekend my mother is having a moving sale and I'm at her house to assist. Somehow I ended up being up and around at an hour where I normally just roll over and go back to sleep for two more. This was long before the sale even started, so caffeinated and on a temporary sugar rush, I decided I might as well start Week 20 while Mom tried to keep from going nuts.

It's another challenge week, and therefore another shot at digital painting. This week's subject should be recognizable from my blog's avatar. I can't recall ever really drawing Starz besides as some horribly represented anime-styled cat, so this should be interesting to say the least. Liberties are also being taken to make her look less annoyed in the painting than the reference photo.

Background noise: Mom running around like a headless chicken