Sarah H. Smith | Other Critters

When I was young I had 8 cats, not pretty little things but big rough and tumble farm cats. I would try to play with them, I was a walking cat-scratch, and persuade my Parents that they were all well-behaved indoor cats (it never worked) and we spent long happy hours outside together.

Having cats now brings back fond memories.I think that I'll always find them enchanting subjects, character, shape, markings and texture. They are a dream to try to capture in any medium.

My cat images start from drawings and small color sketches. Some are small mixed media pieces on paper. I build grounds with papers and paint and then draw on top. Others are larger more stylised designs with big brushstrokes and energetic lines. I aim to develop some more stylised, line pieces overtime.

I have lots of donkey neighbors here in rural Texas.They’re kept on rural properties as guard dogs to protect young livestock, and as pets too. They will kill a coyote/ feral dog at a glance, I keep my dogs well away from the local ones (who look angelic).

As a subject matter, they are perfect, characterful, colorful, textural and very amusing, very nosy too. The three in the next pasture always come and visit as I walk past.

I start with sketches and develop ideas from there, I’m trying to get more spontaneous and abstract with more recent designs. I draw with ink over a textured ground or I use papers and fabric to build the composition with brush and line.

I have had the honor to observe these gorgeous creatures in the Masai Mara Game reserve. They are silent as they move through the bush, regal,calm and utterly beautiful. I wanted to draw their enormity and their delicacy.

I had planned to develop these sketches into larger pieces but decide that my reference was so restricted, until I can get back to Africa to observe again, the ideas will have to wait.

Overdrawing with conte, china marker, pencil and pastel on acrylic and paper grounds on heavy paper and canvas.

All pricing is USD.

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