I wish I had a cats fur coat

He’s snug, warm, as a bug in a rug, he gets curled up in a ball and he’s happy, he snores, puts his paw over his nose, and might be in the warmest tog sleeping bag or under a heavy duvet. Cats have a luxury coat that we humans don’t. We still have hairs and hair follicles, but as we wear clothes we don’t need a fur pelt. I wonder what came first, clothes or bald patches?

Cats still find warm places to sleep though. Usually on our bed. When it gets really cold they sneak under the duvet and snuggle up. They make a fair hot water bottle. The best thing is how they can sense your mood, sometimes they seem to be mind readers!

Lion

I’m in another group of artists who come u with challenges to post to every week. The pictures don’t have to be recent (thankfully). This was for #safari, I painted it about four years ago and it went to the local ‘Lions’ club which is a local charity. What else can I say? It’s acrylic on canvas, about A4 size. I don’t paint every single hair or piece of fur, but I try and get an impression of how the animal looks. I generally do cat and dog portraits but am not too bad at most animals x

Handsome boy cat

With his golden eyes, he stares at me. Gazing up, black and white cat with cattitude! He wants to get up on the chair arm but there were things in the way. As soon as I moved them he jumped up and curled up next to me. I think the heat is getting to us all. It’s slightly cooler today but still hot for our fur covered friends. Now he’s purring, golden eyes closed….

Just as I wrote I that he jumped off the chair arm!

Ten year Cat

Digital drawing I did ten years ago. I’m not sure which website I drew it at. I think there are still some sites that allow you to draw independently, but most seem to be limited in what you can do, like editing photos or colouring in areas, or making patterns. I looked online but the types of site seem to be quite limited. If you know of any site that I can draw on let me know? (I’m also mainly drawing on my phone so the memory I can use is limited).

Cat out of a box…

I wanted to take a cute photo of my cat sitting in a box on the kitchen counter but he will keep jumping out when he sees me! (he wants a love). So this was the best I could get. A couple of months or so ago he was having treatment after being lost for eight days. He finally came home with tarry oil on his coat and an ulcer in his eye and damage to his mouth. That’s why his tail looks a funny shape, I had to cut off some fur because it was so matted and the substance on it would have continued to poison him.

Now he’s perky, his fur is growing back, he’s leaping up on the kitchen counter again and playing with his toys. He’s happy and so I’m happy too. X

WIP, is he finished?

On the easel today. I think this is almost done, one of the legs and the side of the body feels clunky. It’s basically that the leg on the right side might need bringing inwards a bit, so it doesn’t line up with the bodies edge. I’m also not sure about the grass. But I’ve broken my fast of painting. I have been blocked for ages. Basically because I’ve been scared about how well I would do after having developed a shake on my left side. I think concentrating helps reguce the tremor. I will get this finished. X

Dog work in progress.

He’s almost done, looks like a Teddy bear so it needs some more attention.

I am struggling with the fur, trying to soften it, it looks too spiky at the moment. I need to get the ears right and his belly sorted out. The photo I’m working from has him in a dogs rain cover or coat, but that is covering areas I need to paint. Three hours of work and I feel like I’m only shuffling forwards. But I’ll get there.

Dog, work in progress

Acrylic on canvas, a few more layers. The rough edges of his coat, where they touch the grass, need sorting out. The dig has got a silver coat and a collar and lead on which I’ve left out so I’m trying to decide where the shadows should fall and his fur. I think I’ve made some of it too yellow, I need daylight to check.