When we were visiting family Mother's Day weekend, I was talking to my sister about something related to drawing. I asked her if there was anything she was interested in, and she mentioned her cat Biscuit. She probably wasn't entirely joking (like with what happened in my Lord of the Rings sketch), but I don't know if it was exactly a formal request or anything like that. But…as we've seen before, I am always hungry for more art ideas, so anything that even sounds like a request becomes a real one!
Biscuit the Cat is a really cool fellow. My sister and her husband have three pets, including one more cat and a German Shepherd puppy. Of all of this crew, Biscuit was the first, and he runs that pack. According to my sister, Biscuit walks around like he bought the place. And he is apparently very smart too; this cat can open doors and figure out things felines aren't really supposed to. So, this is an impressive subject and I can't let him down!
Despite the fact that I don't have much experience drawing animals, this turned out surprisingly well! I wasn't sure how successfully I could handle fur…I've drawn only a couple animals (random pets a decade ago, Oy the Billybumbler), but never in color. I've got peoples' skin down pretty well I think, but that's smooth and a totally different ballgame. I think I adapted to simulating some furriness well on Biscuit's head and upper body, but settled for too many solid lines on his legs.
This sketch is based on a photo my sister shared on social media, and in it he was wearing a cowboy hat. I definitely had to capture that! Now, I'm fairly certain he doesn't always wear one, but I like to believe he does for special occasions. Certainly for his portrait I had to keep it on. The drawing of the hat is just alright; not much detail, but you can tell it's a hat at least.
So, the animal drawing challenge is mostly a success I think! I wasn't sure how it would go, but I'm feeling decent enough about it to try another some time.
Whoa, this was my 100th published post! Sweet!
Also, looking at poor Biscuit the Cat…he's a bit wobbly. I don't think I drew his feet/body position in a very natural way.
Love the drawing! I think that the head is the best part; the colors are bolder and the fur looks really good. What's going on in the background? What is he sitting on and what is he looking at?
Thanks Kathy! That's funny you mentioned that, it's very typically of my drawing approach. I'm either sort of lazy or impatient (or maybe both), so when I'm sketching people, the heads are usually much better, then the bodies get really sloppy. I've gotten to where I often stick to heads and shoulders, and don't even bother with more. I guess that carried over from people to cats!
And in the picture, Biscuit the Cat is sitting on a counter-top, and he's looking at a candle.
Much appreciated – I'm sort of surprised, I had no idea how a cat would go. Animals are definitely not in my wheelhouse!