kitty sketch crops

OK, if anyone happens to be reading this, I sketched the kitty that I'm supposed to be drawing and tried different crops. There really aren't a whole lot of options because she wants the whole cat in the drawing. I do tend to like to draw parts of things rather than the whole thing. Anyway, here are a few that I tried. Which one do you like? I can't decide. Probably because my heart just isn't into this.









I know they're all fairly similar, but there isn't that much of a variety that I can explore and still include the whole cat. Help!

Girl in Funny Hat

Hi all. I just did a quick sketch because I felt like doing a sketch of a person. I was just looking at a bunch of portraits on-line and feeling all inadequate because they were all so good. I know I am good at drawing people, but these people were better. I need to start drawing more people again. This afternoon I have to get started on a colored pencil drawing of a cat. This is another cat that has died and the photographs that I was given are horrible. You can't see any details in the fur and the eyes are glowy, etc... I do have to do it because I said I would, but I think most people would have rejected the job on the basis of the poor quality photographs. I only have until June 5th, so I really need to get started today. I love cats, but I don't like drawing them...

Speaking of cats, I woke up to a sick cat yesterday. My Phoebe threw up and then was very lethargic, wouldn't eat, etc... I know something is terribly wrong when she rejects treats. I really did not know what to do as I don't have any money right now. I know that just walking through the doors at the veterinarian costs about $75.00 and that usually by the time all the tests have been conducted, you can't get out of there for less than $250.00. Now, of course, I wouldn't just let her die, but I know that sometimes you take a cat in and pay all that money and they just would have gotten better on their own. So, I decided to wait it out a bit and fortunately, by the time I had to leave for work, she seemed like she was starting to feel better. Then I visited her at lunchtime and she seemed a lot better. Today she seems like her normal self. So, I'm glad I didn't panic and take her in right away...

Hope everyone is having a good day. I need to go out soon to run some errands and then come back to work on the drawing. *grumble grumble*

Feeling sketchy...

I did feel a bit sketchy this evening, so I sketched this baby African elephant. For some reason I also feel quite exhausted even though I didn't do all that much today. I am not exhausted from the sketch as it was not a great deal of work. I did update my book blog in addition to updating this blog. Maybe that's it: I have blogging fatigue. It's a fairly new disorder that really hasn't been researched much. Maybe I can go to the doctor and they'll give me a pill. Or maybe I can just be part of the study or I could conduct the study myself, but I'm really too tired for that. I really do feel like I should exercise, but I think the fatigue is going to prevent me from doing that. Oh, lazy lazy lazy... Blogging fatigue is a real killer.

My pears are calling my name, but I already ate one this evening. I've been obsessed with pears these past few days, but they better stop calling my name because I can't afford to eat a pair of pears per day. I think this blogging fatigue is getting the best of me, so I will say "buenas noches."

Back home...

I am home again and am feeling very happy about that fact. As much as I like staying at the two places I stayed at this weekend, it can be taxing to be on the move all the time and I always sleep better when I am at home. I am exhausted right now, but I'm finally having my coffee now at 3:19 PM, so I'm hoping to pep up a bit. It's good to be sitting here doing nothing with my own pets. I heart my kitties and I was missing them and feeling very guilty about the limited attention they were getting this weekend. But, the rest of the day and evening will be all about relaxation, so they will like that. I am promising them that when I am done blogging, my lap will be available. Tonight there will be no worries about the car. I am bringing it in tomorrow, so I can worry then.

I hope everyone is having a good holiday weekend. I enjoyed mine, despite the exhausting traveling, having to work yesterday and the car issues. And it's only 3:26 now, so I have much of the afternoon and all of this evening left to sit with the kitties. I plan on reading and maybe watching a movie or two. Maybe some drawing... Speaking of drawing, I did manage to scribble this elephant in my sketch book between dog walks and driving this weekend. Not much, but at least it's something... Now I'm off to enjoy the rest of my coffee.

Gone to the dogs...and quite possibly some June bugs...

I have been house hopping the past couple of days. Last night I pet sat at one house and tonight I'm at another. I am not only at a different house today, but had to go back to the other house to feed the dogs as their owners were not expecting to be home until 10:00 PM and then to my own apartment to visit my cats. Wouldn't you know that with all this running around, my car started to behave badly. I am hoping it will hold up until Tuesday as this current pet sitting job is not done until Monday and I don't think any car shops will be open that day. Damn cars and damn holiday weekends!

I was very excited to see that there is wireless here and that she left me the code! Hence, the blogging. To ramble on more, I'm very sleepy. I think it is the combination of the stress of the car situation and the fact that the dogs I was with last night are very barky and are inclined to go "tap tap tap" on the hardwood floors in the middle of the night. Also, there was a very noisy scuffle at about 4:00 AM involving the cats(yes, there are two cats that live in this particular house too)and quite possibly one or both of the dogs.

Now I just heard "tap tap tap" on the window behind me. Either the June bugs are doing June bug stuff (such as clumsily flying into windows) or someone was knocking. I am going to hope it was the former.

My website, so far...

Hey guys, just thought I'd show you what I've been working on. I had an epiphany on Thursday morning, which resulted in me getting up at 5:00 AM to work on the website. This obviously made my work day miserable as I had gone to bed only 3 1/2 hours earlier. Anyway, when inspiration strikes, you just have to go with it sometimes, even if it results in sleep deprivation. My epiphany had to do with trying to make a website using a Wordpress blog. We used Wordpress in one of my classes and I remembered that you could add multiple pages that link together, just like a website. So, this is what I have so far. Not much yet, but it's a start. When you are there, click on "elephant species" and then click on the photos. I spent all morning and afternoon trying to get all that to work right. Grrr, very annoying...

Elephant Banner

Hi all. I was playing around with making a banner for my website, and decided to add it here (obviously, with a different title;)). This is definitely not the final banner, but just me playing around with photoshop. I will probably try several versions before I decide on anything, but it is o.k. to use here. Was excited that I was able to change the position of the title and the size of the font while playing around with the html here on blogger.

Anyway,I hope all is well with everyone. I dodged a speeding ticket today, so I am quite relieved. I got pulled over and gave the cop my "I don't have any money" sob story, which is a very true story, and he proved that not all cops are out to get us by giving me a written warning. But, now with a written warning on my hands, I feel like I'm going to have to drive like an 80 year for the rest of the summer. He did lecture me, which peeved me a bit. Yes, I know I did something wrong--don't treat me like a 5 year old, please! I have a tendency to get pulled over quite a bit and am wondering if the little red car is at fault as I don't think I speed more than most of the people I know.

Just to add a bit more, as I was not feeling particularly wordy earlier, I started reading Mansfield Park today. This is the only Jane Austen book that I have never read, so I felt like I had to read it for a sense of completion. There is a price tag on the book that says: "Special value: $1.98." I don't think I would likely find that special of a value today unless I bought it used. Maybe $3.98, but not $1.98. Quite the bargain. About Jane Austen, I think a lot of people unfairly label her work as early chick lit. I don't think that's the case. She had a lot to say about the society that she lived in and the role of women in that society. It is not just romantic fluff.

Now to move onto dinner, the cats and I shared a can of salmon tonight. I had mine over rice and they ate theirs plain in their Fancy Feast dishes. It's not often that we share our dinners.

Well, I am off for the night. I just started watching "The Reader" which I'm sure is going to be a joyful (yes, sarcasm) experience.