January 2026 Drawing - Paige's Cat, Tiger

This was done at the request of my lovely daughter-in-law, Paige.  Worked using Procreate on the ipad.  With this one I used a different brush than I'm used to using called the MWC Bristle Flat Original.  Palette of four colors used.

Miya's 2020 Drawing Revisited

Yesterday I decided to go back to a previous drawing I did of our oldest dog, Miya.  She's 15 this year and when I drew her back in 2020, I chose to capture showing how her eyes are clouding over due to age.  I also chose not to blend much to show how course her fur has become as she's aged.

Pulling her drawing back up, I wanted to make changes especially around the eyes and make her fur softer looking and with just a touch of tan color she still has in her coat.  I also darkened the body fur as it is darker than her face, head, and chest.

And although I could continue fine-tuning, I am MUCH happier with these results compared to before.

Her initial drawing was using a 4B pencil with very little blending and with the changes made to make her fur look softer (less grainy), I used the Gouache Blending Tool.

Present Changes Made:

Previous Drawing in 2020

Miss Nova

A couple of months ago, Travis adopted a new member to the family.......this kitten he named Nova.

I worked this one differently from how I normally work and only on one basic layer.  I also decided to include a background (which I normally shy away from).

Gouache brush tool for color and blending and BJD Streamline Standard Inker for the line.

Son's Cat - Kiddo

Thought I would attempt Kiddo again hoping to get closer to capturing her likeness.  It's not exact but I'm closer than I've been able to get in prior attempts.

A white cat for me is rather difficult to sketch especially trying to add shadow without taking away from the white.  

Kiddo is a mix of some sort with Siamese.  Her eyes are different from what we're used to seeing in cats with a solid black most of the time versus the diamond slit.  Her tail is black and white like a racoon's tail while the rest of her is pure white except for a few markings on the top of her head and face.

She's always been very high spirited while at the same time a very loving cat.  My son will at times refer to her as being a bit "crazy" due to how she for some reason will tear through the house as if her tail was on fire or some unseen creature chasing her.  And it always seemed like a certain time of the evening when she would do this.

She's 17 years old and has been with us since a kitten ... born August 1, 2004.

UPDATE 02/17/21:  After viewing on screen, there was something nagging at me that just didn't look right.  After studying the results, it hit me the eyes just didn't cut it for me.  I didn't like the hard edges of the pupils and they needed to be enlarged fitting the eye socket better.

Now I'm happier with the results.

September Challenge Between Friends - Design a Fishbowl or Aquarium

Inspired by the Switch game, Animal Crossing New Horizons, I came up with the idea to design a fishbowl or Aquarium.  

The challenge involves sketching individual components and then sketching everything together.

If working a standard fishbowl or other container like a jar, we are to sketch at least one fish and a minimum of three accents inside the container.

If working a larger aquarium, we are to sketch at least one fish and a minimum of four accents inside the container.

Not able to decide which medium I wanted to use, I chose to work my challenge in different mediums.

Digital:  Sketched using Procreate on the Ipad.  I chose to use minimum color leaving the rest black and white.

Graphite:  With this one, I just wanted to practice sketching fish and accents and not necessarily put them together in a fishbowl or aquarium.  This was using the Wolf's Carbon Pencil - B in the Stillman and Birn Beta sketchbook.

To finish the last page in my Beta journal, I worked this quick pencil sketch using a Pentel Graphgear 1000 mechanical pencil #7.

Pen and Ink plus Watercolor:  My primary contribution for the challenge I used the Kakuno fountain pen and #41 Noodler's Brown ink.  Worked in the Stillman and Birn Beta journal.  DS watercolors.

Miya Drawing Revisited

One of my favorite drawings of our Yorki-poo, Miya, has been nagging at me that something just wasn't right about it.  Today I decided to revisit and make a few changes hoping to capture her likeness better.

Original Drawing and evaluation:

Although this has been the closest I could get with likeness, I was bothered by the shape of her face and eyes.  They were off making this look like another dog.   Face appears too wide and eyes not large enough.  If I look at Miya, her eyes are closer to the size of her nose.  I also felt this lacked shading on one side of her face...making it look kind of flat.

Today's Changes and feelings with results: 

I think with the changes, I have come much closer to her likeness and I like the shading a little better.  I wasn't crazy about all the white in and around the eye that I left in the original drawing and definitely made her eyes too small.  With the changes, I felt I should leave the eyes a little smaller than the nose, keeping in mind the foreshortening with her snout/nose being closer.   

I might re-evaluate this again at a later time but for now I am pleased with the changes.  This definitely looks more like our Miya.

Miya's Favorite Treats

Something I learned today when I decided to take treats out of their bags to sketch.....make sure your dog is not around to hear you in the bags or see you with their treats.  Thought I'd never get through sketching these with Miya bugging me for them.  Didn't help trying to cover them up.  I ended up giving her the smaller treats after I sketched them and then went to do something else to get her attention off me and the treats.  Finally finished the page early evening.

FIbook75x75 with Stonehenge Aqua / Lamy AlStar with Urban Grey ink / DS watercolors

Friday and Today's Sketching

My husband has been coming in saying how bad the midges are so I decided to document them in my sketchbook.  I went outside walking around studying and taking photos of those on the outside walls and car.  While outside, I walked around the house and saw where there were early fruits on the Japanese Yews.  My eye also caught something on the roof and it was this dove peeking over the edge.

Thursday, I got a call from my youngest son saying he had taken a bad fall in the attic of one of the houses he was checking for a break in wiring.  He found the problem and was headed out of the attic when he stepped back off the end of one of the joists onto ceiling.  So that he didn't damage or go through the ceiling, he quickly pulled back which caused him to lose his balance.  He tried to break his fall by grabbing onto an overhead support and his body swung around causing him to lose his grip.  He fell flat on his back across the joists.  Another contractor was below in the garage and heard the loud thud.  He had to help Travis out of the attic and my son's supervisor was called.  His supervisor came on site and saw to it Travis went to be checked out.  Took him to Leesburg Regional Urgent Care.  Although xrays were taken (not read yet), the physician documented Travis was suffering a contusion to the back and a spinal sprain.  He was sent home with instructions and wants him back Monday for a follow-up visit.

Travis is one hurting puppy but if there's a positive in this..........he didn't fall THROUGH the ceiling landing on a concrete floor below.  With two sons working jobs that require them at times up in attics, this has been one of my fears along with passing out due to the Florida heat.

Second page is my participation in Cathy Johnson's monthly Sketch With Me virtual sketchcrawl.  The theme for the month is "Challenge" where we choose to work something we find challenging......either subject or medium, etc.  

I'm always wanting to sketch and paint Miya but always find myself dragging my feet actually doing so.  It's her fur that intimidates me.

This started out as a graphite only sketch but then sprayed it and decided to go ahead and attempt the coloring.  Her fur is one of the things I love about her.  It's soft and I love the scraggly look due to the soft curls going off in various directions.  I keep her fur cut fairly short by sitting her in my lap and cutting with scissors..........it's one of our special bonding times together.  

Miya Not Feeling 100%

Morning sketch of Miya laying near me on the floor. 

Lola is back with Terry and Miya out with me.  So far there's not been too much excitement.  I'm sketching and listening to TV while Terry works. 

We tried reversing dogs with Lola out with me but Lola is evidently leaning on Terry as a surrogate for Travis and won't cooperate. 

My little fur-baby is showing signs of feeling a little better from her tummy upset (we're sure from anxiety) but still not 100%

KG journal and Sharpie pen

Our First 16 Hours with Lola

We knew we would be facing an adjustment period with Lola coming to stay with us.  Miya doesn't like sharing Terry and I with other animals and we're sure Lola was missing her "daddy".....however I don't think we were as prepared as we thought we were for our first 16 hours.

Terry forgot he had to work wee hours of the morning until near midnight so he stayed up starting work at 1 a.m. until the job was done around 3:30 a.m. (he works from home). 

He was already frazzled with Miya's behavior and Lola's restlessness.  Terry's normally the easy go lucky one whereas I'm normally the one who gets easily anxious with chaos.  Our roles were reversed and I think it's because Lola is used to the male figure following Terry around everywhere he went constantly wanting attention with Miya complaining.

Here we have an excited/restless 14 month old, agitated and insecure 10 year old being rather vocal about it; bird squawking due to all the noise; Terry being a bit on the snappy side, and then there's me..........I escape to my room with door closed taking Miya with me.

What made the evening even more unnerving was the storm that passed through not long after I dropped off to sleep.  Miya doesn't do well with storms so I was kept up through the night due to her trembling, followed by her intestinal upset at 6 a.m. I'm sure was brought on with all her anxiety.

Here's to a better day today (fingers crossed)!!!