Space Exploration

A quiet, little explorer

Swinging cat had to go.

This is a rough, preliminary draft of a scene I'm working on. The story comes with the finished picture so don't forget to come back on Monday to see the rest it.

Have a good last day of the first week of 2016 y'all!

Edit: Jan 11th: Colored a part of it, it's not finished yet. I will update the post with her story in the next two days. I'm learning about blending modes and trying to use them to paint most things.

                   

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Napoleon spent a considerable amount of time at a cat boarding facility when the both of us had to travel. The people in the cat lodge seemed lovely and were the only ones at the time, to accept our little, terrified, feisty kitty with open arms. I walked with her into the room that would be hers for the next three months. It was a little corridor, with wall paper that must have been installed in the late nineties, that ended in a nice window for her to hang out on. The window opened into the field where dogs and cats would come out to socialize (separately). She could also see the many birds that came to rest on the roof of the building. 

I stayed for a while to help her get used to her new home and have to say that there might not be a creature as curious as a cat. Terrified as she was, she spent her first ten minutes sniffing the place out. The abundant smells of strange cats must have been driving her nuts. But she persisted. Once she had explored every inch of the room (minus the roof), she finally hopped on to the window sill and settled down to survey the outside. She observed. And let out a soft "Maow?". She walked over to the other side of the ledge, pawed at the glass, let out another "mewrr?" and repeated this process for a while.

While I stood there watching her and never wanting to say good bye, I realized again how lonely she would be in the months to come. She's a playful, sweet, affectionate kitty but it is very difficult for her to call upon these qualities when threatened with the presence of new animals and humans whose intentions she can never be sure of. Which ensured no contact with her co-boarders. 

While this quality makes her life stressful, those of us who get to know her (there is a grand total of 5 people in the world who have been lucky enough to witness her full personality while enduring the initial scratches) can see her for the playful, loving, explorer she really is. Her shy boldness announces a quiet persistence that I will always love. She effortlessly reminds me that it is possible to let curiosity trump terror. She will live a life of isolation in a suit built from the culmination of her genes, environment and her circumstances. But then again, don't we all?