Where there is no struggle, there is no strength. 

~Oprah Winfrey~

Alley Cat (c)2017 Polychromos and Pablo on Stonehenge 8x10

I have to confess that drawing Alley Cat was a struggle. I started her over 3 times! I really don't know what happened, it was a first for me...and made me question myself and my art. All I can think of is I didn't have the right colors to begin with and that super threw me off. But I also couldn't quite see the colors correctly, or decide exactly which colors to use. It was soo weird. I know this summer I was struggling personally with finances... I had a lot of unexpected expenses and little savings to cover them. I'm also very exhausted these past few years from working 70 hour weeks between my full time job and working on my art business...fueled most days only by caffeine! Sometimes the weight of responsibility can weigh very heavily on me...and my to do list is long...like really long!! Most don't see any of this tho as I wear my super woman armor around...but when my water heater went out on the same day as my car was at the mechanics for the third time within 2 months and the plumber messed up the handles in my shower and didn't tell me...all my cracks broke wide open and the flood gates parted!! I was pretty much a hot mess that morning! But that released something deep inside of me that I was clearly holding in. 

Everything has been paid for now, my new drawing of Bob Scratchit is going so easily, the pressure that had built up for months is gone and I am feeling centered-in alignment-again. Phew! I can breathe again. I don't think I'll ever have all my shit together, altho it may look like it on the outside...everything ebbs and flows...that's life. It's how we handle it...I use humor, drawing, my animals and nature to help get me through the hard times. 

When I see certain drawings of mine through the years, memories flood in...Alley Cat will be like that...that I went through a period of struggle, I consciously worked to released it and life went back to normal...actually better than normal. I know I am blessed and VERY grateful for my wonderful life...this portrait will always remind me of that!!

The dog days of summer are over!

After two and a half years of only drawing dogs for clients I finally received a kitty commission!! 

Cats and whiskers make an irresistible combination to draw!  I find the process of drawing them in colored pencil a completely different experience from drawing them in graphite. Altho I highly enjoy both, each medium has their own challenges! Adding/layering color into the mix on top of values and textures is certainly an adventure, sometimes in fun other times in frustration!!!

Other commissions this year:

Molly (c) 2016 July 8x10

Rossa (c) 2016 May 8x10

Teddy (c) 2016 May 6x8


Kitty drawings in my Etsy shop:

The Dog did it! (c) 2016  5x7  $155

Forty Winks (c) 2016  5x7 $155

Olive's twig digs!

Sweetie (c) 2014 8x10 Kathryn Hansen

As my enjoyable commission of Sweetie is now completed, I thought my next drawing to tackle would be for an upcoming gallery show at Segil Art Gallery. The theme for the show is "Home." As I perused numerous photographs of my own and on PMP, racking my brain for the perfect idea, I decided to go with another Jennie Norris photo of a morning dove snuggled into her twig hideaway.

I wrestled with the idea of creating this in colored pencil, or maybe even a tinted paper, but in the end I just decided to go my usual route but with a different type of paper. I've become super unhappy with the sizing in Strathmore's bristol board lately, so checked out the various papers at my local art store, Swains. Disappointingly they had very little in the way of drawing papers, so decided on a 300 lb watercolor paper called, Lanaquarelle. I started the piece on Sunday morning, and did my research on it on Monday, and yikes, I found out the company uses animal products in their sizing just like Arches...bad company! So...well...I guess it's back to another art store to see if anyone has Fabriano paper...that seems to be a very popular drawing paper who's sizing is all plant material! Now that's a good company that I can support!!

a sweet couple in my driveway that my cats didn't chase away!

Born free,

 as free as the wind blows
As free as the grass grows

Born free to follow your heart

~John Barry-Born Free~

Elsa  Kathryn Hansen 5x8 (c)2014

Elsa was a bit of a challenge for me, and I felt I was all over the place with her. At times I wanted to quit, whining in my head that it was too hard, but I pushed along slowly and in the end I am extremely content with her! She will be one of two possible pieces I will be entering in the Pencil Art Societies International Art Exhibit this summer. I still need to draw the other one tho!! But I do have till June, so I'm not too worried about it.

~up next~

Baboi, the cat who won my contest over on Facebook at the beginning of this month. I started him last week but I wasn't pleased with it...he needed to be cropped in so his dazzling eyes were more prominent. So, I started over and now I'm just trying to figure all that fur! 

"Once you have had a wonderful dog, a life without one, is a life diminished.” 

  ~Dean Koontz~

Beaucoup  8x10 (c) 2013 Kathryn Hansen

and almost complete, the last commission before Christmas! a sweet cat that i'll show you after the holidays! but here is a tiny sneak peek!

"I've always been mad about cats."

~Vivien Leigh~

Sammy  Kathryn Hansen (c) 2013  8x10

up next on the drawing board are two 8x10 commissions, Beaucoup, a sweet old dog and "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named"...because he's a gift for Christmas. but i CAN tell you that it's a very adorable kitty!

and Pete the Pelican has made it's way back to the board as i soo want to enter him in an art exhibit in January, but the application is due early December. if you remember there's a surprise element to Pete that i'm super excited to get to! 

ohhh...if there were only more hours in a day!!

another commission completed!!

Moo (c) Kathryn Hansen  8x10 2013 

i finished drawing Moo late last night after an exciting but disappointing soccer game. altho it was very chilly at the sports complex after the sun set, it was a very heated game, with lost tempers, shoving, and shouting. The Wazowskies lost 4-8...and they were not happy about it...altho they did enjoy their snacks afterwards!

this is a new piece started last week, drawn in between two commissions. i figured The King needed a queen, cuz you know men can't live without us ladies!! plus i want to enter the royal pair in an upcoming gallery show...so she needs to be done by beginning of November!

i won't be able to show you my next commission until it's fully completed, just in case the client of my client sees it. altho i think the odds of that happening are greater than me winning the lottery...but the internet can be a small world at times, so i can't take the chance! so instead here's an adorable shot of Maddie, one of our foster kittens...growing by leaps and bounds!!

Just watching my cats can make me happy

~Paula Cole~

(me too!)

Coonie Bear (c) 2013 Kathryn Hansen 5x6