Portraits of Animals

This full-lid gift box is gloss coated in black on the lid and white on the bottom, fully white on the inside. On this box I’ve covered only the top with a print of “Mewsette on the Afghan”. Box measures 5″ wide x 7.25″ deep x 4″ high. Price includes shipping.

Use for storage for small items, photos or special keepsakes, or use as gift boxes.

[ss_product id=’a211a71a-bcfe-11e6-89fa-002590787d08′ ]Small Gift Box, Mewsette on the Afghan[/ss_product]

The local vendor who makes the greeting card boxes I purchase makes all types of small display packaging. I found they had these black gloss-covered boxes in three sizes on clearance. Black cats, black boxes, what could happen there? It’s taken me a few years to get around to using them, but you’ll be seeing plenty of them coming up soon, until I run out of them.

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Mewsette nearly blends in with the afghan.

I’ll admit, this took a little longer than the usual 15 minutes maximum. I’ve been holding off the sketches with this afghan just because I knew they’d be time-consuming for part of the charm is the detail of all the colors. Today I could not pass up pretty Mewsette quietly napping on the afghan, especially when she opened her big yellow eyes. I drew the basic sketch in black, then later filled in the colors with every marker I have in the house. This afghan is more muted than this sketch shows, but I like the bright colors too.

I love that old afghan. My mother crocheted it years ago from a 1944 pattern book out of scraps of wool yarn. Each granny square is made of four rows, each a different color, with one last row of black; when the squares are sewn together there are two rows of black between each color set which gives it this stained-glass effect.

In creating my Daily Sketches of my cats I experiment and work in a different style and medium each day. You can read more about these three sketches and other on The Creative Cat (www.thecreativecat.net).

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Gift boxes.

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Keepsake boxes.

This full-lid gift box is gloss coated in black on the lid and white on the bottom, fully white on the inside. On this box I’ve covered only the top with a print of “After Dinner Nap”. Box measures 5″ wide x 7.25″ deep x 4″ high. Price includes shipping.

Use for storage for small items, photos or special keepsakes, or use as gift boxes.

[ss_product id=’0d6529a8-ff79-11e6-805c-002590787d08′ ]Small Gift Box, After Dinner Nap[/ss_product]

The local vendor who makes the greeting card boxes I purchase makes all types of small display packaging. I found they had these black gloss-covered boxes in three sizes on clearance. Black cats, black boxes, what could happen there? It’s taken me a few years to get around to using them, but you’ll be seeing plenty of them coming up soon, until I run out of them.

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

“The face that launched a thousand portraits,” my Stanley, the feline mascot of my business, appearing on my business card and brochure cover. As I set up the pages for this site I sat back and thought about possibly using another piece of artwork as my signature for the site.

This portrait changed my world, as an artist and in my career. The day I finished this portrait in 1997, I knew I had reached a higher level of skill as an artist and a deeper level of visualization combined with that skill that goes way beyond reproducing what I see, very far into what I feel. Stanley was a difficult soul having been abused before he was dumped outdoors, but his real personality was sweet, fun, silly and relaxed, and for all his issues I loved him completely. In this scene, the after dinner nap he enjoyed just about every day, I found that part of him, and that part of me, and got it onto the paper. It’s been magic since then, not just with my portraits and other animal artwork, but with all my artwork. I may have arrived at that point as an artist eventually, but it was my deep feeling for Stanley that delivered me to the door, which I had only to open.

Many cats have inspired me since this portrait in 1997, which is why feline art is featured here. Painting my cats, in turn, led to painting the landscape around me, the local areas which I’ve loved since I was a small child, and still lifes and then painting wildlife.

Stanley was with me for 21 years, and considering that he was an adult when he arrived on my porch of his own accord, that meant he was nearing the quarter-century mark when he died in 2007, inspiring until the end as I was photographing and sketching him until his final month. Please read more stories about Stanley, and see other art and photos featuring him on The Creative Cat where I’ve been writing about my cats for years.

See other gift boxes.

Gift boxes.

Also see keepsake boxes.

Keepsake boxes.

This full-lid gift box is gloss coated in black on the lid and white on the bottom, fully white on the inside. On this box I’ve covered only the top with a print of “Are You Looking at Me?”. Box measures 5″ wide x 7.25″ deep x 4″ high. Price includes shipping.

Use for storage for small items, photos or special keepsakes, or use as gift boxes.

[ss_product id=’54f385ee-ff79-11e6-8639-002590787d08′ ]Small Gift Box, Are You Looking at Me?[/ss_product]

The local vendor who makes the greeting card boxes I purchase makes all types of small display packaging. I found they had these black gloss-covered boxes in three sizes on clearance. Black cats, black boxes, what could happen there? It’s taken me a few years to get around to using them, but you’ll be seeing plenty of them coming up soon, until I run out of them.

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

This is the guy who started it all–and nearly the last one to have his portrait done! He fostered every stray kitten and cat I ever brought into my home, and shepherded me through the ups and downs of the fifteen years he was with me. More intelligent than many people I’ve met, friends of mine will remember him as the cat who opened the refrigerator door, took out a container, opened it, and helped himself to the contents. I’ve used his image in other works, but I’ve finally decided that the best depiction of his personality is of him being silly, rolling around in the sun and making sure I noticed how handsome he was.

See other gift boxes.

Gift boxes.

Also see keepsake boxes.

Keepsake boxes.