'Cat on path' drawing took a lot of time and involved a lot of ink

I completely neglected to blog as I was creating this one, over a period of about 3 days. So here it is. It's one that already I am arranging to frame and hang on my wall. It seems worthy of trying to sell on ebay some day, or my local shopping site usedvictoria.com.

Here's a quick look at the finished piece:

Forest kitty ink drawing by Heidi Bada

A few points to remember about my artwork

1. All images anywhere on my blog, stores, and other online or print locations are copyright protected. I'm shocked that people these days think they can use peoples' drawings and photos in their ads. It doesn't matter that a (c) copyright symbol isn't present. Please spread the word that you need consent to use other peoples' images in your ads, signs, flyers, websites, and so on. I'll stop the lecture there.
2. I'm looking for feedback and of course let me know if you'd like to buy a print. My next step is to upload it to my FineArtAmerica and Society6 stores (Society6 seems to have cheaper shipping but I'll leave it up to you to decide). 

How this image evolved

Since the piece is completed, I'll give you the whole story with my recollections.

First, I thought I wanted a sweet little forest scene with munchies for the cat. I sketched on scrap paper to get the figure close to real life proportions, and wanted to keep that cute little face that appeared even though it seems like it's straining to see something off to the side.

Basic cat on a path surrounded by weeds

I thought a cat on a plain green background would be boring, and I saw an opportunity to make a foreground of encroaching branches. I was also trying out a potential maximum for the reach of the grass, represented by those yellow bushes in the top region.

Grass and leaves added

I'm pretty sure I didn't like what I saw. I wanted to see what the sky would actually look like, not knowing how dark my new blue ink would dry. Yikes! It's pretty opaque and medium-dark.

Sky and rocky foreground started

Going on my idea of leaves, which at this point weren't standing out very noticeably, I also discovered the bottom region needed a foreground too, as an environmental cue that the pathway is an opening for your eye into the picture and perhaps adventures of this kitty cat.

Now a step back to see some balance in the image

I seem to have gotten quite involved at this point, and didn't snap any more cell phone photos. I really wanted a bright cat, with an inviting environment to explore. Given the sorta dark sky, I started to sense an evening time for this image. 

I smoothed out the grass and the rockery to match the even tone in the sky. The cat's colourful coat required several...coats...of ink to cover the area and allow some highlight variations while I also had yellow on my ink palette for doing the green grass and leaves. While the leaves ended up brighter than the grass, they actually stand out as an eye-catcher for the cat's yellow eyes I think.

The land unexpectedly started to look like it was rolling off into a valley at left. It reminded me very much of rolling hills along the roadside in the interior region of B.C. where I've travelled.

I thought I'd leave the ink work done here, with a viewer wondering what the cat is thinking, what it's looking at, and where it might be located. I think the bright leaves indicate the location might be close to streetlights or houselights, and it seems cozy to me.

Finished now