Bad news first: our boarding stable is closing. We’ve been there for fifteen years. Finding a new place was nerve wracking.
Good news: we found a place. Whew! It’s not as easy to find a boarding stable nowadays as it was way back when. There just aren’t as many operating anymore.
More good news: the new place has lots of critters to paint and draw.
More bad news: we’ll be saying goodbye to Snip, the sweetest kitty, a barn cat in her teens who loves horses and people.
After reading in Frank Lohan’s book, Pen & Ink Techniques, that he often draws the same scene or subject up to twelve times, I decided to sketch this cat on different surfaces to see if I could find a surface to use for stand-alone drawings. Stillman and Birn makes nice sketchbooks, but I wanted to try a cotton paper in case I want to frame a finished piece. Although paper testing was my motive, I quickly realized I was giving myself a lesson in proportion. The more I sketched, the closer to a likeness I got. I used de Atramentis document ink for everything.
The left (and final) drawing is on Arches hot press watercolor paper, the right is a Stillman and Birn Zeta sketchbook. Both are 8” x 10”.
First was the Stillman and Birn sketchbook, but after that I tried out Strathmore 500 illustration board. Long story short, there’s promise there as a good surface for pen and ink with washes, but I stopped after realizing I had made an error in my sketch (which lead to using Mylar for the next attempts). The Strathmore soaks up ink very quickly, and my lines turned extremely dark but then, strangely, didn’t get much darker with repeated coats. I’ll need to keep practicing to see how it works out. I really want it to like it because I have several large sheets just waiting to be used. After that, I tried Canson Bristol, great for line work but doesn’t handle water well. I stopped early in this one, too.
Six cat sketches?? Top left is Arches, then my original pencil/ink sketch, top right is my Mylar tracing, middle right is Stillman and Birn, bottom right is Strathmore, and bottom left is Canson.
Finally, I used Arches hot press 140 lb. watercolor paper, which handled everything well—pen, ink, washes, pencil, erasing, etc. It was my best choice, although the natural white color is warm, and I think I prefer a brighter color.
This sweet kitty posed so nicely that I guess I just wanted to keep drawing him. My personal favorite is the one I completed on Arches paper. It’s the strongest resemblance, plus I had fun sketching and painting the rocks.
