"A TABBY TALE"

This week has been so busy, so many things to do, didn't spend as much time as I wish I had drawing and painting. I had more failures than successes in the past few days, but I can say for a fact that every single piece that went wrong also taught me a lot. I learned so much, not only about what to do, but most importantly, what NOT to do. My mistakes have helped me improve my skills with colored pencils and even though the little tabby cat below is nowhere near the perfection I'm trying to achieve, it is, nonetheless, a major leap since my first attempt at realism with cps (too ugly to show!!!).

I'm still working with ACEO size supports but my next piece "has" to be bigger. I need to time myself and experience the feeling of doing a large colored pencil piece. By that I mean 9"x12" XD
Bigger than that, uhm...no way!

BTW, what a difference an electric pencil sharpener makes! My dear good artist friend Rose very kindly sent me an X-Acto Powerhouse sharpener and oh, my, what a dream! No more wasting time and lots of pencil with handheld sharpeners that just kept on breaking the tips and eating through large chunks of my pencils everytime I had to sharpen, which is basically once a minute if I am to keep a needle-like point. Not to mention the stress on my wrists with the twisting motion. What a pita! Thank you sooooooo much, my dearest Rose, your gift is tremendously appreciated. The tabby wouldn't be half as good if it weren't for your kindness and generosity. Love ya!

Oh, well, without further ado, here's my kittie, done on Stonehenge paper with Prismacolor and Derwent Coloursoft pencils. It is a demo from Anne DeMille Flood's book, "Realistic Pet Portraits in Colored Pencil".

Have a bright and colorful weekend.

Many hugs,
Jade