Ekko & Panda

My friends Nathaniel and Val have two completely gorgeous Siamese cats, Ekko and Panda. I always thought they'd be so fun to draw, and recently they asked me to illustrate them. It was an interesting challenge..not only was it important for the cats to look right, but also to get their different personalities into the piece. Panda (on top) is a super fluffy lover who is always laying on a windowsill or dangling her paw from a shelf. Ekko (bottom) is sleek and aloof and is always flipped on his back or laying in a box. There were a lot of other layouts I considered but liked this the most. They aren't the most playful of cats, so drawing them just chilling out in their favorite spots made the most sense.

I did their fur with watercolor washes that I did by hand, which I picked apart and collaged together digitally to get their markings right. The linework and the rest is all digital.

I'm so happy with how it came out, and that Nathaniel and Val loved it!

The two kitties are below so you can see how cute they are in real life :)