Thursday, April 30, 2009

Sophia VonMeowderkitten and an Unexpected Muse

Sophie in the Springtime 8 x 10 and 11 x 14 print

I love cats. Love them. Until I was married, I had always had kittens and cats to cuddle up with. Oh how I miss those cats. We don't have a cat at the moment. Will keeps promising me a kitten, but Annelie is the Queen of Terror and I don't dare bring an innocent little furball into our house until Annelie learns that tails are not for pulling and necks are not handles for lifting.

When I was visiting Holly the other day, I got to meet my muse... in the form of a furry little feline named Pink. Pink is the cuddliest cat ever. None of that playful biting or perpetual clawing. She curled up with me every single night and I couldn't have been happier. Of course, I did wake up every morning to Pink, perched right next to my head, with her leg up in the air as she groomed her privates... but still. Waking up to a grooming cat is better than waking up to no cat at all.

All I've been able to sketch, since coming back from Portland, is cats. And channeling my muse has brought around my latest collection (though I only have three finished pictures to show you now) featuring Sophia VonMeowderkitten - please call her Sophie - as she travels the world and lives her life.

Sophie in the Cherry Blossoms 8 x 10 print
Sophie in Paris 8 x 10 print

I think Sophie is pretty darned cute. I had a Siamese cat named Sophie when I was little. She was so sweet and this Sophie is a lovely namesake, I think!

And my prints look super cute virtually framed in a virtual room!

Notice anything different with these pictures, compared to the other illustrations in my shop? For the first time, I haven't been using the entire paper for my illustration. I've been inspired by Lauren Alexander, the lovely and talented watercolorist, who frequently blogs about new ways to challenge herself as she creates new illustrations.

The Hidden Treasure
www.LaurenAlexander.etsy.com


After reading her blog post from earlier this week, where she created a composition without touching the edges of her paper, I wanted to give it a try. I'm really pleased with the result!

I hope you all love Sophie!

xoxo,

8 comments:

Carry Grace said...

I love your little French Sophia! She is a doll. I did notice right away that you didn't fill in the whole page and I love it!

Alyssa S. said...

Well, you've just added a new set of pictures for Amelia to love! She saw me looking at your post and she said "MOMMY...I like to see that kitty!" and then promptly made me scroll up and down to let her see them over and over. She is fascinated with my mom's Siamese mix, named Clorox (don't ask...long story) and even named her Build-A-Bear Jazzy Cat after him. How cute would Sophie be on some gift tags or cards...**hint hint**

Melanie @ Whimsical Creations said...

She is adorable!! I am a kittie person, too. I always had cats growing up. We have 2 new kitties we got about a year ago. Lily is a terror with them.

Boutique By Bonnie said...

My two cats and I just love your new illustrations!

Lauren Alexander said...

So cool! I love your kitty. Thanks for the shout out!

Marie said...

I love your little Asian Sophie! Well, she looks asian to me! That is probably my FAVORITE print to date...I love that you didn't use the whole paper. It gives the prints a different look...awesome job!!!

Winklepots said...

I love the French Sophia too. The new look is very nice! Very cute, Marisa. :o)

jean said...

Your character names are so hilarious! Where do you come up with them?!

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