looking at the world

“Drawing makes you look at the world more closely. It helps you see what you’re looking at more clearly.” 

~David Almond, Skellig~

 off the drawing board:

Soaring Scotty by Kathryn Hansen (c) 2014 9x12

almost off the drawing board, still needs some tweaking:

Cantik

new commission, Fred:

new small (5x7) drawing, Sonni:

still plugging away at Percy, as he doesn't need to be finished until April 1:

 i am finally feeling healthy again (yay!), and back at work trying to make up for lost drawing time! lots of hours now spent drawing (or playing with kittens)!!

day 7 of the New Year!

Lily Marie from my dog competition on Facebook

my new year is starting off with a bang in many ways...an art show at topanga canyon art gallery, new drawings, two commissions, 3 new foster kittens, and my youngest daughter just got her license! yay! such wonderful things makes me temporarily forget about all the endless car repairs on both my oldest daughters ancient ford and my honda! yikes...car repairs do add up into the thousands, don't they?!

Cantik, my newest commission

but the bills will get paid and forgotten, the good stuff sticks and celebrated! 

my newest drawing Percy

this is Meatloaf, 1 of 3 new foster kittens

hope you have lots to celebrate too in the new year!!

geesh...what a weekend!!

this weekend was one for the records...many emotional and physical ups and downs as saturday started off with a bout of food poisoning from a trader joe's vegi wrap, which by the afternoon had me in bed. 

this weekend also had my youngest daughter off on a church retreat, so i was in charge of getting our foster kittens to Happy Strays to be adopted that morning...which could be a long post in itself! needless to say, their separate adoptions fell thru, which is a sign that they were meant to be together! but they are still up for adoption at Petco, which despite not feeling well, i spent a good deal of time at as it was hard to see them cooped up in the brand new, but very small "cattery" there. of course i cried...a lot...as i missed them terribly and knew they were not happy with all that transpired that day. but if this helps them get a good home, it's something all three of us have to endure for a while! this, as i have said many times is the hardest part of fostering for me as i attach (especially to these two) in a nano-second. 

the ups of the weekend were:

that i did get close to finishing up my commission of sammy, which i wasn't expecting! 

and i did received another commission from a former client when i first started creating pet portraits! but i can't say anything more about it, as it's a christmas present!

and i found out that The King and Queen B were accepted into an art exhibit in december at a wonderful gallery! 

and my daughter made her first goal of the season at a late afternoon game on sunday! (they won 5-2!)

and shortie brought me a furry gift in the middle of the night! which only took me half an hour to retrieve from my room and return to the great outdoors...a new record...one time it took me over a day to find the rat (poor thing) he brought me. 

and my sammy brought me a lizard, which he kindly placed in the bathtub for easy removal!

despite all the good things that happened, i hope never to repeat this kind of weekend again!

on the prowl again!

queen b is back on my drawing board again and needing to be completed very quickly now, not just because i still have 4 commissions to go but because i want to enter the pair (king leo) in an upcoming gallery exhibit...so the race is on!! wish me luck and cross everything you've got!

even tho i completed my large house commission on friday evening, i still can't show it to you, as it needs to get framed and then given to their client...hopefully next week! but here's a few more snippets of the piece. little leo (our foster kitten) can't stay off my drawing board...too many pencils and erasers to play with!!

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!!

Pete, Jessica, Crystal, Penny, Leo, and Maddie

sometimes a lot of times i get obsessed with the undertaking of certain drawings and i just have to work on it despite other commission obligations...this time it's Pete! 

at the beginning i just sneaked in a half hour or so in on it, but then i launch into it full blast, so i got a fair amount completed on Pete over the weekend.

but in my defense i also got in a good amount on my commission and should be able to finish it up this week.

Jessica and Crystal

this weekend we also received 3 new fosters, a mama and her two kittens. it all happened in a blur as we got a frantic text pleading if we could take them in as they were on the list to be put down at our local human society and there were no other available volunteers to take them in. how could i say no! we named the mama Penny. i don't think she is even a year old and she was very tired and weary...but friendly, loving her ears scratched and even some kisses on top of her head! the babies, about 5 weeks old were unfazed and just loved the millions of toys we have accrued over the years for our fosters to play with. i think just a bit of time, love and good food will bring Penny around to being happy!

Penny and her babies, Madie & Leo

so this weekend was filled to overflowing with lots of animal energy, from pelicans to dogs to cats!!

“Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.” 

~Roger Caras~

Bella & Ricky (c) commission 11x14  2013   Kathryn Hansen

Ohhh Nuts! (c) 5x5   2013   Kathryn Hansen

 

 

below is a new drawing on the board...one of our foster kittens from last summer. my daughter named him coonie after a cat we had many years ago...see the original coonie here.  this sweet kitten loved to sit on my drawing board soaking up the warmth from my light, play with our dog josie despite the size difference and was just the friendliest little thing you ever met!! although he had many health issues and eventually had to be quarantined, he is now with an awesome family and healthy as can be!!

 i see a future drawing or two of these sweet 6 week old little bundles of joy from happy strays pet rescue!! our newest foster kittens, ariel and adella (i wanted frida and georgia but lost out!)

 

 

"Animals are such agreeable friends - they ask no questions; they pass no criticisms." 

~George Eliot~

 Romeo (c) 2012 Kathryn Hansen

romeo was the  rush portrait i had to draw and send out to australia in two weeks time! i put in long and sometimes late hours to complete it but he was fun to draw!! always a challenge to fit a fast portrait into my busy life (especially with kittens vying for a prime spot to lay down on my drawing board after a good tussle...see below!!)

coonie

coonie, one of our fosters, has a terrible case of ring worm...and he's given it to all of us...emily getting the worst of it. but that may be because they hang in her room during the day when we're not home. he had to go to santa clarita for a few days to see the vet and be quarantined. 

nyan

nyan, his foster buddy, has really missed him! 

so far none of the other animals have gotten it!!  knock on wood!!

a gift

Lucy (c)  2012  Kathryn Hansen

this past saturday night i stayed at home since my boyfriend was out of town at a funeral and my youngest daughter was at an overnight babysitting gig. i was all excited to finish "lucy" as i never stay home on a saturday night to draw! i poured myself a delicious glass of red wine, my oldest daughter was snuggled up tight next to me on the couch, we were watching iron man on tv when all of a sudden my daughter was shrieking at the top of her lungs. my head jerked up, i knocked my wine glass over with my drawing board...wine spilled everywhere...i looked over to see what the heck!! shortie had brought me a gift...a rat larger than our foster kitten coonie! He ran off to my bedroom and that's where i spent a good portion of my saturday night...chasing after a giant rat. after much imploring, i was able to talk my daughter into finally helping me. we exhaustively managed to capture him and get him safely outside. not exactly how i had envisioned my night going but i did complete lucy...my original goal...just had to stay up later than i was expecting!

 

coonie wiped out after all the activity!

shortie, the gift giver keeping a watchful eye on all the commotion

until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened. 

~anatole france~

coonie

josie

nyan

diamond, upside down...as she likes to sleep!

 since i am working on a secret rush portrait that needs to be done by wednesday night and shipped overseas on thursday, i can't share any progress shots. but as i sat on the couch most of the weekend drawing, the animals loved snuggling up around me and walking all over my drawing board! had to nudge our foster kittens, nyan and coonie off more than a few times!! it's hard as they are so sweet...but i was on a mission!