Trouble on Friday

I was long overdue to spend some time with Trouble, so I made sure I went to "visit" today after my trip to the Detroit Institute of Arts. When I arrived, she greeted me again, almost at the door. I think she had been enjoying some "rays" on the back of the sofa, in the den. We set up, in the kitchen. Trouble on the table and me seated on the end with my sketchbook and pencils.

After scratching her head for a minute I thought, "I wonder what she'd do if I didn't scratch her head ..." Well, this is what she'll do! She kept trying to climb down onto my lap - her left paw is on my knee....

Of course, the non-scratching lasted for only a New York minute! I resumed the head scratching and kept drawing.

I do try to make our sessions more than all about the sketching. Trouble whirls and twirls around and I scratch her head and stroke her back. She purrs and nudges. God forbid I should stop even for a moment! She'll stop and turn and ram her head back into my hand. Sometimes she'll look at me for a second with half-closed eyes like she's saying, "Excuse me... but we're not done yet..." So I'll continue on. When I feel she's not as needy and relaxing a bit, I'll resume drawing.




Per usual, I could only do "pieces parts" of her. I concentrated on her front paws.


The first sketch is with her two front feet planted together, her back is arched in this stance.















I also did "Purring Toes" - that's when she alternatively picks up each front foot and curls the toes of the lifted paw.




I really tried to get a "front on" face of Trouble,
but that little cat is in constant motion!
This was the best I could manage:


After more head scratching and petting, I decided I better not push my luck - I am allergic to cats, after all and Trouble's hair was getting pretty thick on my pencil case and on my sketches. That's when I know it's time to pack up - when there's so much hair on my sketch I can't tell if it's pencil lines or cat hair! Haha!





The final sketch I did of her was after I'd wiped off the pencil case and my hands. She was still on the table and I was standing across the room from her. She wasn't moving much so I thought what the heck, let's see if I can get a full body sketch done.

This is what I managed to get accomplished. She did keep moving her head, but I was able to work fast enough and I kept changing her ear positions.

Who knows, maybe next time she'll actually "sit" for me... but I'm not going to hold my breath!!


You know, I have these labeled as "5 minute sketches" - HA! If I work more than 20 seconds on any of them I feel like I've gotten all the time in the world! It's a great way to discipline oneself to get the gesture down quickly. Maybe I'll try two year-olds next. That ought to be as difficult as corralling kittens, but my pencil sure would get a workout!