Cat sketches

The new cats hang out with me in the studio, when they aren't playing with each other they curl up in their special places nearby and nap.
This has inspired me to get out my old sketchbook and pencil case and keep them handy. Here are some of my better efforts done on Blick 80# sulphite drawing paper, 9" x 12" with soft sketching pencils or a soft charcoal pencil with some blending done with a tortillion.

The New Year!

First snow of 2012 today! It has been a warm and dry spell for December and January. Then today it snowed about 2 inches. This meant going out and shoveling sidewalks. Luckily the restaurant next door had the front sidewalk cleared this morning so this afternoon I only had to shovel off the extra inch or so that had accumulated. The wind had drifted the snow some and was deeper in some parts.
I finally finished the Red Oak Leaf & Others colored pencil drawing. This took a long time. There were times when I had to stopped and do another drawing instead, or else I would end up rushing and doing a less than satisfactory job.

Red Oak Lead & Others, colored pencil on white colorfix paper, 12" x 18"

These are some of the other drawings I did as relief from the Red Oak Leaf drawing:

Winter Evening, Oil pastel, 18" x 24"

Old Dairy Barn, 18" x 12", Derwent tinted charcoal on homemade grit paper

Tree Line, 18" x 24", Oil pastel on Stonehenge ice blue paper covered with clear Golden pastel ground.

A drawing did as soon as I finished that Leaf drawing. Wanted to change pace, so this drawing of a horse was done in Conte crayons on blue Strathmore charcoal paper.