The Feline Siblings

Hello again, my friends! Guess who has been drawing more felines Never enough felines!

So! Meet these cute 3 feline siblings, who live in my backyard and I have the joy to call my friends. They are 1 year and 2 months old by now and they are pretty happy in my forest-like domain, full of trees and shrubs, mice, butterflies and sparrows to chase. I'm gonna post some cute photos of them as well, but a few days ago I decided, why not draw them a portrait together? They are cute, they are colorful and they are felines - what more could I want really :3 Besides, I felt like doing some traditional art and like drawing something cute and furry. So I hopped out with a camera to get a few pictures for reference and a couple of days later - there they are!


Okay, so now, left to right:

 Ashley, the pale creme faint tabby male. He is quite skinny and rather shy, but we've seen him bring prey he caught himself more than any of his siblings. So he is quiet and a little restrained, but he is definitely a good hunter. I see him more seldom than the rest as he likes to wander around and isn't as social as the other two. Of course, from time to time when he is in the mood, he enjoys playing and a bit of cuddles. I called him Ashley because of his color (which is a major factor when I name felines really), as he was sort of dust-colored when he was little. Now he has a more tender creme hue, but I still call him Pepelcho sometimes, which is kinda like a funny male version of Cinderella in my native language. He also has curly fur tufts on his collar, which I kinda tried to hint here.

 Jinx, the golden tabby male. He was the largest of them all since they were little, and he still is. Back when he was little we nicknamed him The Sociopath because unlike all the rest he wouldn't let us come any close to him. So he was kinda my favourite - not just because of being sociopathic, but ah I guess I am just fond of the golden tabby coloration. But that was long ago. Now he is the clingiest of them all. He won't miss an opportunity to come and obtain some petting and scratching from his giant two-legged minions, hehe. He is also the most meowing one - always eager to get something more to eat or just to receive some attention. He is a cute little purrball with an awry tail tip, but when I watch them together, he shows a lot of character, too. Oh, also, he is named after the main character from my favourite childhood cartoon: "Pixie, Dixie & Mr. Jinks",.

 Harley, the calico female. She has her mother's coloration, although of course a different pattern distribution - they are pretty random. I was actually about to call her Harvey Two-Face, but then I realized this coloration can only occur in females. So I went for Harley instead. Still an oddly colored comic villain so I'm happy XD She was extremely clingy when she was younger, it being practically impossible to remove her from myself when I was leisuring outside in the garden, as she would crawl all over me trying to find new spots on me to cuddle into. Now she only does it when she's in the mood :3 She is pretty brave and cunning, always trying to steal prey from the rest. Sometimes succeeding, too. She also has the softest fur, something that I kinda have hinted here, although to be honest, accidentally. Sweet little fluff, she is.

 The little one in the picture Jinx is holding is Daisy - their second sister, who was white and golden tabby. However, she disappeared about a year ago, when they were still kittens. We assumed someone passed on the street and took her.... that kind of thing happens relatively often around here, especially since we typically have our cats roaming freely. All we can do is hope she has found a nice home where she is loved and well cared for. Though as I remember her, although little she was already showing the hunter within, and with her family history I have no doubt she can take care of herself purrfectly well. I still wonder what she would have been like when she grew up. I remember she was my mother's favourite shortly before she disappeared.


So many kittehs! Yay! Was quite nice and fun to draw them, and there was some challenge to it too. They all have different faces, different patterns and different character, and I wanted to show all that in their group portrait. I think I did decently. Drawing feline fur colors and patterns provided nice practice with colors that I never found to be my favourites and yet are very essential for natural coat patterns - all those yellows, goldens, fawns, beiges and browns. Each of them presented different challenges in this respect - from the strange, untypical and not quite defined color of Ashley's fur, through the faint tabby stripes of Jinx to the irregular patches of Harley. Quite an experience indeed. I'm also very happy with the little picture of Daisy. That was an interesting idea and I am quite satisfied with the result.

Well, I guess that's the feline-related spam for today. Enjoy my kittens!


Reference photos all belong to me.
2B - 8B, technical pencil, polychromos color pencils.
30 x 20 cm paper. About 6,5 hours altogether.
(Yeah, it's a little longer because it's a triple portrait. Drawing faces takes time.)

You can see pictures of my dear kitties (including the refs) here:
www.deviantart.com/lapis-lazur…


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