Cats and Milk Cans II - A Work in Progress

Today is a lot cooler out than it was last week when we were at JoAnne's farm for a paint out and once again for the morning we decided to paint in the barn.

I decided that I would like to do another drawing of the milk cans and add one or more of the kittens.

For the first hour I was there I spent most of my time taking photographs of the kittens as they played and raced around the barn before settling down to draw.















I chose to do this grouping of three of the milk cans that were different from the ones I did last week. One of them had an old metal tractor seat added to the top of the can in place of a lid.

Before we went for lunch, I indicated two kittens that were posing for me by the milk can. 

I will post this drawing at a later date as more work on it has been completed.

Cats and Milk Cans I - A Work in Progress

Today we were at JoAnne's farm again for a paint out and it was a lovely day except for the cold wind.

So, instead of painting outside we moved ourselves into the barn where we were entertained by a mother cat and her six kittens and an older kitten from an earlier litter.















I chose to do this drawing of some of the milk cans and added one of the kittens into the background.

I may add a few more at a later date as more work on it has been completed.

Spooky

It is a New Year and I have to come to terms with myself that my little Spooky cat won't be back again.















The last time she was here was on 27 November 2019 and she hasn't returned, which is unusual, as she always stays for the winter and in late spring she leaves for the summer and comes back when the snow returns.

I can only hope she is with my other animals which have passed over before her and is enjoying a peaceful existence.

Black Cat on Fence Rail 1 and Witch's Kitty 1 - Two Works in Progress

While going through a folder of small paintings I came across a drawing that I did in a Still Life class at KAGS a long time ago of a black cat (see post on 12 December 2014).

Since it is Hallowe'en, and we are getting the usual rainy weather, although this year it is also very windy (21mph (34kph) winds and gusts up to 31-37mph (50-60kph) it seemed fitting to do some work on it.

First I cleaned up the lines on the stuffed cat wearing the witch's hat.

I wanted to see how Antwerp blue would look as a background colour for a painting of a black cat.

So, on a small piece of paper I did a quick drawing of a cat sitting on the top rail of a fence.

Next, I applied Antwerp blue into the background.

Black Cat on Rail Fence 1

Once the paint was dry, I put a cut out of black paper over the cat drawing and I was pleased with the colour contrast.















Witch's Kitty

It didn't take long for me to wash in the background behind the cat wearing the witch's hat.

I will post this painting at a later date as more work on it is completed.

Thank you for looking at my artwork.

Spooky

Today I had a wonderful surprise, my little barn cat Spooky, came running up to me when I called my cats in to be fed. I have not seen her since May and with her being 15 years old, I thought that she had passed away.

I picked her up and she draped herself over my shoulder as she usually did and it was as though she had never been gone.















When I set her down inside the barn, both her daughters Inky and Smoke ran up to greet her while I filled their trays with kibble and then added some leftover chicken as a treat to their meal.

Hopefully, now that there is snow on the ground and it is getting colder she will stick around, at least for the winter before she disappears again.

Goblin

Today while I was sitting on one of the concrete blocks inside the barn waiting for the water trough to fill for the horses, Goblin came to the open door and stood there watching me.

I was surprised that he didn't run away as I took my camera out of its case to take this photograph of him. But when I got up to turn the water off, he slowly moved away and went into the west barn.















Food must be hard to come by, or he isn't a very good hunter as he seems to have made the barn his home knowing there is a steady food source.

With him being a fairly young cat, not much more than two years old, I hope to eventually get him to trust me enough to where he will allow me touch him.

Phantom

Today my patience was rewarded with one of the many wild cats that often winter in the barn finally, came down into the barn to eat from the food dish with me still in the barn.

It is the third year this large male cat has been coming here when food is hard to find.

He has grown a lot from the first year, when all I would see is a glimpse of this small ball of fluff in the mow as he quickly disappeared from sight.

Or at a distance, in the barn paddock before he went under the fence and slipped away like a phantom.

The second year he was a lot bigger and not quite as afraid of me, often taking his time to look at me before disappearing in the mow, but I would often find him watching me through the opening in the loft door for my cats to get into the main barn.















This year he stayed at the opening in the loft door and I started putting food on one of the steps to entice him to come down while I was still in the barn.

Perhaps next year, I will have gained his trust to the point where he will allow me to touch him. Time will tell.

Patch

I took this photograph of one of the male barn cats called "Patch", who is quite a character.

He usually follows me around when I am in the barn doing chores, and on this day he decided to find a comfortable spot where he could be out of the way and at the same time he could keep an eye on me while I threw hay out of the mow to feed the horses.















As soon as I was finished, he followed me down the stairs into the main barn and waited for me to get out his kibble and feed him. With a final pat I left him to enjoy his meal.

This photograph when matted and framed will be available for $80.00.

Barn Cat - A Work in Progress

It is another nice, sunny day with the temperature reaching 64F (17.8C) which makes it ideal for going out for a walk and enjoying the changing colours.

My cats usually come out from the barn to greet me in the morning when I go down to the barn chores and wait patiently until I set the dishes out with their food.

With winter just around the corner I am sure that I will have a couple more stray cats coming into the barn for food so that they will be able to survive through the long cold winter.














Usually if I can get them tame enough to be able to capture them I take them to the veterinarian and have them either spayed or neutered so they will not create a multitude of kittens which will have to struggle to survive.

I started on this drawing of a cat and I will post it at a later date once I have completed the outline drawing.

Thank you for coming to look at my artwork.