My feline friend Max died the other day. He was suffering from aggressive form of colon cancer, and there was nothing we could do for him. There's a lot more to the story than that, of course, but that's another article.
In his honor, I chose to try and draw a graphite sketch of one of my favorite pictures of him. I have very little experience in drawing period, and especially with graphite, so please be kind.
As it turns out, this drawing was very healing to do. Over a few hours I was able to create a decent drawing of Max.
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It was difficult to get the proportions right. The angle of the picture was from below and to the side. Natural light streamed in from outside, while a lamp from inside the house lit up the left side of his face. Even taking color out of the equation wouldn't make this easy.
I got a rough outline done and then shaded in the darker areas with powdered graphite. While it looked like a cat, it needed to look like Max. It needed to BE Max--not just a cat.
As I continued to add texture and layers of fur, little features I saw in the photo, Max started to appear to me. This is a cat I've known for 14 years. He was there before my wife and I got married. He was there when we brought our kids home from the hospital and for every moment since then.
In other words, I knew him well.
Here is the "almost" finished product, as I made a few tiny improvements since I took these photos. It's funny how seeing the same image in a different context helps.
And here is the reference photo I used.
It's not perfect, but it's filled with love for my friend.
I knew enough to get started, and I must say I'm happy with the result. All photos belong to author.
