Bee's Knees Industries

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Coloring Page: Party Animals!

It's been a little while since I've shared a coloring page, so I thought it was high time I got to it, already.

I created this piece for Siren Nation's Celebration show last year, and I had so much fun coloring it in, I wanted to share the joy.

Files:
• Download the Party Animals! coloring page here (PDF) - prints on 8.5" x 11" paper
• Use regular printer paper or cardstock. You can even experiment with printing onto art papers to try some different coloring techniques.

Print: Love Triumphs

Hello, friends.

I've spent the past couple days processing the results of this year's election, and I'm trying to focus on ways to enact positive change. I know that we are much more powerful than the hate that overtook the election and that, in the end, love will always win.

Now is the time to remember the power of our daily actions. There are so many people who now need support, protection, and love, so please take time each day to be the change you want to see in the world.

I've created this little piece of art to remind me of an important mantra that I'm holding onto right now. Know that I love each of you very much, and, together, our love can change the world.

Peace!

Files:
• Download the "Love Triumphs" printable here (PDF) - prints on 8.5" x 11" paper
• Set your printer to photo quality for best printing
• Use regular printer paper or high-quality matte photo paper, depending on your preference

Coloring Page: Witch in a Faery Ring

I took part in Inktober again this year, and it was a blast! Many of my drawings were witch-themed, and I thought they'd make fun, Halloween-y coloring pages. You can see all my posts on my Instagram.

Files:
• Download the Witch in a Faery Ring coloring page here (PDF) - prints on 8.5" x 11" paper
• Use regular printer paper or cardstock. You can even experiment with printing onto art papers to try some different coloring techniques.

Tutorial: How to Draw a Cat

I created this little tutorial for the Crafty Wonderland program this past spring, and wanted to share it with my out-of-town readers, too. This is the method I use to draw pretty much all the cats you see in my portfolio, and I hope it gives you some tips on how to make cat art as well!

Files:
•  Download the How to Draw a Cat tutorial here (PDF) - prints on 8.5" x 11" paper

Coloring Page: Cat in the Garden

So, I haven't posted anything here all year. It's been kind of a crazy year (I found out I'm pregnant right after New Year's Eve, so that kinda changed things around here.), and I'm not quite sure what I want this blog to be.

While I figure that out, it will just be a holding space for freebies and printables like this one! You can download your own coloring page right here.

Files:
• Download the Cat in the Garden coloring page here (PDF) - prints on 8.5" x 11" paper
• Use regular printer paper or cardstock. You can even experiment with printing onto art papers to try some different coloring techniques.

Instagram Cats

I set myself a little challenge recently to start drawing more likenesses. I did a few faces, but mostly I've focused on cats that I find on Instagram.

Aurora Purr

Melissa Einstein

Milla the Cat

Molly, Tabby, & Munchkin

Percy Peter Wells

Geysha Divinity (She and I are running a giveaway on Instagram right now. Take a look!)

With all the fun I've had drawing cats, I'm excited to draw some more, so I have decided to offer custom pet portraits in my shop. Feel free to email me (myself at cateanevski dot com) if you're interested.

Tutorial: Colorful Pencil Lines in Photoshop

In my quest to "find my style," I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out what I do and don't like in my drawings. One thing I've discovered I surprisingly like a lot is the sketchy graphite linework in my initial thumbnail sketches, so I'm trying to find ways to bring that into my finished work.

I've been taking some Skillshare classes recently to work on the Photoshop skills necessary to make nice pencil lines in digital art and wanted to share a tutorial for my new favorite method.

Working Wednesday: Linework

I mentioned in my last post that I need to find some time to work on fun watercolor paintings. Just to show I wasn't kidding, here are just a few of the pieces I have ready and waiting for paint.

With my Make Art That Sells class over the past month, I just haven't had as much time as usual to work on personal projects with no real purpose. I'm looking forward to having a bit more time to paint next week. Plus, I may have found a purpose for a few of these personal projects, too, which always helps me finish what I start.

In the meantime, since I can't seem to find the time to color these, I thought you guys could lend a hand. I made a coloring page of the Billy Goats Gruff for you to print out and have fun.

Files:
• Download the Billy Goats Gruff coloring page here (PDF) - prints on 8.5" x 11" paper
• Use regular printer paper or cardstock. You can even experiment with printing onto art papers to try some different coloring techniques.
 

MATS Part A: Wall Art

This week's Make Art That Sells assignment really stretched me and the way I think about my work. The assignment was to create an abstract piece using floral elements, a word, and the colors blue and green. In case you haven't noticed, I never, ever create abstract art, and I didn't even know where to start. Instead, I used Lilla's technique of breaking down large projects into mini assignments and focused on one piece at a time.

I started with a topic that feels very comfortable to me (cats, of course) and started building up the floral element around it. I used some work by Emily Hughes as inspiration, since I love the way she uses pencil and florals to create some perfectly whimsical pieces. I found her work after last week's assignment as I was perusing the children's books at Powell's for more inspiration. (Sidenote: I cannot wait to paint this piece! I need more time for fun and silly painting, stat!)

The next piece of the puzzle was the word. I really enjoy hand lettering, so I decided to focus on the word alone to find a fun way to present the letterforms.

Once I had the word and the florals, the only thing left to do was combine them, and I was suddenly no longer intimidated by the project. I know this isn't a strict abstract (and I even managed to sneak in a little character), but it's something very different from my usual work that I enjoyed making, and that, to me, is a huge win.

We've just begun our last week of Make Art That Sells, and I'm very excited about this next project, so I'm off to sketch a few fun ideas.

Printable: Friday the 13th Project Life Scrapbooking Cards

Since today is Friday the 13th (the second one we've had in this very lucky year!), I just had to create a fun printable celebrating my favorite lucky charm: black cats. And what's luckier than a regular black cat? Why, a black cat with thirteen legs, of course!

This printable is for scrapbooking or journalling cards compatible with Project Life or other pocket scrapbooking sets. What sort of spread will you make with these lucky kitties?

Files:
• Download the Friday the 13th cards here (PDF) - Prints on 8.5" x 11" paper
• Use heavy card stock and photo-quality printing for best results.

Shop Update: Cats, Cats, & More Cats

♥ Ghost Cat Sticker ♥

Since the bulk of my fanbase is made up of awesome cat ladies and gentlemen, I've been hard at work this past month creating lots of fun cat-themed items for the shop. I even created a separate section in the shop, just for cats.

♥ Purrmaid Sticker ♥

I'm extremely excited to add stickers to my repertoire. I've always love stickers (since, you know, they're awesome), and I get such a thrill from seeing my work in such a sticky format. I had these two designs printed at Rockin' Stickers, and they did a truly amazing job. The stickers are weather-resistant vinyl and have so much detail they look as good as my art prints. As long as these guys continue to sell well, I'll be adding more designs over the next few months. Let me know if there's anything you'd love to stick from my portfolio!

♥ Halloween Cat Buttons ♥

And in case you're looking for a less permanent option, I have quite a few cat-themed buttons, as well. I've been designing these for Purringtons Cat Lounge, but I wanted to make sure they were available for non-Portlanders, too.

♥ Sugar Skull Cat Buttons ♥

MATS Part A: Children's Book Week

So, I just realized I haven't been keeping up at all with my MATS class progress here on the blog. Time to remedy that, and I figured I start with the most recent project: children's books.

(Click the image for a larger view.)

The assignment was to illustrate either a cover or a spread for the folktale, The White Cat. I decided on a spread because the process really intimidated me. I almost never create environments for the characters I create, and it sounded like a fun challenge.

To make the project a bit easier for me, I broke it up into smaller pieces and used Photoshop to assemble everything as I went along. This wound up being a great method for me, since it also allowed me to fix any mistakes I made in the paintings and gave me a chance to add in the elements as I created them and make adjustments to my plan as I worked.

Here are a few progress images of my illustration:

I also thought this would make a fun submission for this week's Illustration Friday topic: whimsical. See, the horse is a whimsical whim-cycle. Tee hee!

Now all that's left to do is make a dozen or so more spreads, send them out to publishers, and get a career as a children's book illustrator on the road. I'm practically there!

Desktop Wallpaper: Apple Picking

A couple weeks ago, Tony and I went apple picking in Hood River. We tried to go last year, but it was a terrible trip that devolved into a call to the police. Yipes! This year more than made up for it, though, with the most idyllic weather and beautiful blue skies, even in Oregon in October.

I was inspired to make an apple-picking-themed repeat, and I decided to offer it here as a desktop wallpaper. You can grab the file at the bottom of this post.

(I threw a pear, and Roofus thought it was a tennis ball. When he ran to catch it, he was excited to find that it was in fact a sugary tennis ball.)

Files:
• Download the Apple Picking desktop pattern here - Set image to tile for best effect.
• For personal use only. Please do not use for any income-producing endeavor.

Inktober: Week One

Earlier this year, I found out about a fun challenge called Inktober. Artists all over the world do one ink drawing a day in the month of October to expand their skills with the medium. I couldn't resist joining in (though I decided not to be strict about doing drawings on the weekends, which is why I only have seven drawings by October 8th).

You can follow along with everyone's work at the Inktober tag on Instagram. Also, this week's prompt at Illustration Friday is "Ink" (which is what inspired today's drawing), and there are some great ink drawings over there, too.