Sleeping Tabby Cat

[MBfineart]

Hello all

I am happy to share with you my pastel pencil drawing of this gorgeous Tabby cat. It's a rather special picture because I have worked in graphite pencil for 15 years, and I have been eager to bring colour into my work for some time. I'm pretty chuffed with this!

My website, and open edition print: http://mariebrownfineart.com/_cats1.htm?sleepingtabby

[Laurene]

He's gorgeous Marie! Very well done! Those two-toned whiskers are perfect.

He looks just like my cat! This could be her except that typically her two front paws would be wrapped around my hand

[Mouse1015]

Awww.He's absolutely beautiful Marie. You want to just run your fingers through his hair and left him up and cuddle:). You're a wonderful artist!

[ElaineH]

This is beautiful Marie - his fur is so soft, it makes you want to stroke him, and the whiskers are perfect

[MBfineart]

Ahh thanks for the great feedback guys, I adore drawing fur, and this one was super fun and furry. I was so scared drawing the whiskers Laurene, terrified i would ruin it in one swoop! But it worked out well phew!

[Mike Sibley]

I keep looking at this - with admiration - and reminding myself it's a drawing. Not only that... it's a pastel drawing

A horrible, crumbly media I associate with almost as much mess as charcoal.

OK, it's almost 60 years since I was last forced to use pastels at school, and they've probably improved greatly since then, but......... how on earth did you produce work of such beauty and precision with pastels!!!????

Oh, and I love the recession you've achieved in the body.

[LindasPencils]

Wow! this is so good!

Did you use only soft pastels? which brand? or did you include pastel pencil as well? and what was the support... sanded paper or velour? would love to know - but whatever you used you acheived a brilliant result.

[Tim8031]

Terrific piece such softness yet so tightly detailed

[MBfineart]

Sorry it's taken me so long to reply! I love the reaction this drawing has had, it's spurred me on to do more colour and indeed pastels! Mike, Thank you so much and i know what you mean, a complete contrast to graphite (and i hate mess and charcoal too, which is why I opted mostly for the pencils as less mess), I never thought I could EVER produce anything worthy in pastels either so i just goes to show!! ..Also what i love is being able to put light colours and highlights ontop of dark! You know you want to try it

Linda and Tim thank you too, I used Clairefontaine pastel paper, I don't know how it compares to other papers, but it seems great to me. I used a combination of FaberCastel and derwent pastel pencils with a few fabercastel soft pastels. I hope to share more with you as soon as I get chance to do another colour peice.

[Mike Sibley]

...Also what I love is being able to put light colours and highlights on top of dark! You know you want to try it

Oh, that's just mean and unworthy of you I did, many years ago, try other mediums. Scraperboard/Scratchboard initially, then pen & ink, and finally graphite and carbon pencils. I quickly dropped the carbon and decided to be a "graphite purist".

So, while I probably do have a yearning for being able to apply light over dark, I've also thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of working out how to draw without having to do that.

And, as I explained on FB this morning... I have 4 canvasses in my studio, and two drawers of my tool box filled with brushes and oil and acrylic paints...... so if I get the urge to paint, I can do it immediately.

20 years later and I'll still waiting for the urge to appear