cats – bexODESSA

Summer – week 11 experiments

I had another week of drawing cats with hands, and now I am thoroughly sick of them. I don’t think I’ll be drawing any more in this style. However, drawing them has been invaluable, and has taught me a lot, and helped me develop my own style. What has been most surprising is the enjoyment I get from illustration.

Anyway, here are my last offering of this style of cats (I actually drew heaps more, but this six have taken me 1/2hour to upload because the internet out here is completely rubbish – more so than usual – so this six will have to do).

Another thing I worked on was a collage, which I have submitted for an exhibtion open-call. It is based on one i did some time ago called Ellan Vannin. I had the presence of mind at the time to scan the individual sections, which I was able to print, recut, and reassemble. This has allowed me not only to make it bigger, but also make it in such a way that it can be suspended away from the wall. I am really pleased with the results so far, and will continue to tweak it over the coming weeks. Again, I have more photos, but can’t upload them, so one will have to do.

Summer – week 9 experiments

Drawing, Experiments, Process Deep Dive

I had a really fun week in the studio this week, mostly because I started drawing cats. I adore cats, and drawing them makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I also had an idea for my drawing.

At the end of the summer, when I go back to painting, I want to keep up my drawing practice by spending an hour or so of my morning studio session drawing. My idea is to draw an anthropomorphised cat each morning, and then post it to an Instagram account I have created called “If Cats Had Hands” (@ifcatshadhands). I am not sure what will become of it, but at the very least it will create some parameters within which I can improve and practice my drawing skills, plus, I’ve no doubt it will be a lot of fun.

Here are my first cat drawings.

Raining cats and cats

CSM MFA - Progress Blog, Drawing, Week in Review

I had great fun in the studio this week, mostly because I started drawing cats. I adore cats, and drawing them makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I also had an idea for my drawing.

Here are some of my first cat drawings.

I had my first ever Open Studio this weekend. I was very nervous about it, but I needn’t have been, as it was a wonderful experience. My fella hung some of my paintings, old and new, many of which he owns. He’d tell you I fleeced him, but I contend I was helping him out by setting a high value for my work. It was lovely to see so many pieces together, and they looked great in my white-walled studio. We had a steady stream of people over the two days – never too few that it was boring, and never too many that I wasn’t able to have a conversation with all who traipsed out all this way (in Isle of Man distance terms, I live on the other side of the world). Everyone was very gracious about my work, and I really enjoyed the conversations I had, and appreciated the generous feedback they gave me.

My fella was amazing throughout, and spent most of the time in the kitchen, making cups of tea and baking scones. He doesn’t do things by halves, for which a task done to excess is described has having been “Geoffed”. This proved true when he offered to buy some biscuits for our visitors. This is what was left at the end of the weekend!

Summer – Week 1 experiments

Experiments, Process Deep Dive

You can always tell when I’m stressed, cause I eat sugar and draw cats. This week Geoff and I have been in negotiations to buy Anam Cara, consequently, I ate a fuck-ton of sugar, and here are my cats (except for the first which is a horse).

Monday, 20th June

No.83 – here I am experimenting with building up the picture with see-through layers. I really like the look of this technique.

Tuesday, 20th June

No.84 – I absolutely love this painting, it’s one of my favourite of this series so far. I like all the different elements in it, and think it is a style that could lend itself to storytelling. I especially love the flying cat. The addition to this painting, that distinguishes it from the previous ones, is the use of pencil outlines. I really like the effect.

Wednesday, 21 June

No.85 – from here on the paintings this week seemed to devolve into frantic doodles, on account of the stress. Still, I love cats so much that I really like this and the following paintings.

Thursday, 22nd June

No.86 – a negotiation faceoff if ever I saw one. We lost this round, but we’re not defeated yet.

Friday, 23rd June

No.87 – I love this little scaredy-cat.

Sunday, 25th July

No.88 – this painting illustrates the fact that losing Anam Cara and owning Anam Cara are terrifying in equal measure. It’s been a very hard week in the studio, with lots of internal disquiet and external distractions. However, looking back over the paintings I produced, I can see some real progress, in terms of style and storytelling possibilities, so it definitely wasn’t time wasted.

The perils of having a domestic goddess for a fella

CSM MFA - Progress Blog, Experiments, Green, Holidays

I won’t have to pluck up the courage to ask my fella to extend my Weight Watchers subscription for another 3 months, he’s got eyes! I’d like to blame stress, but my fella’s Victoria sponge making ability and the jelly bean dispensing machine I have learned to break into are the real culprits. As always, sugar is my downfall, and when it comes with cream, light-as-air cake, and a knob-turning contraption, I can’t get enough! But when I bent down the other day and the button on my shorts went flying, I knew it was time to dust off my WW app once again – that time being next week of course.

My outdoor Anam Cara School of Drawing got off to a good start, but then the gazebo blew over and it started to rain, so I had to move operations indoors, which, for some reason, bought it all to a grinding halt. Instead, I painted cats all week.

When cats pop up in my paintings, it is usually a sign I am stressed about something. True to form, I did have an external stressor this week. Not that I mind painting cats, I love those fluffy little menaces, and painting them is a real pleasure, hence why I do it when I’m stressed. Here’s my favourite from this week.

As relaxing as painting cats is, I have a paper to research and write, and an indoor drawing school to attend, so I better start carving out some real time for these two must-dos, or I will have whittled myself to a nub by the end of summer with only stack of cat paintings to show for it – not the worst outcome in the world, but doing my masters is a one time deal and I want to make the most of it.