The Cat that Walked by Himself

Tags

folio society, Just So Stories, rudyard kipling

‘I am the Cat who walks by himself, and all places are alike to me’

Illustration for The Cat that Walked by Himself, from Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories, published in a limited edition of 1,000 copies by The Folio Society, 2012. Watercolour and Chinese ink on Saunders Waterford hot pressed, 265 x 150mm.

I managed to scan the progress stages of this one, too. I incorporated more of the Gongbi methods of Chinese painting into this illustration, using glazes of ink in combination with the watercolours.

Pencil.

First layers of ink washes.

First layers of colour washes.

The completed piece.

Detail of the cat, which measures about 50mm or so (I’m afraid I can’t remember!) in a vertical line from ear-tip to tail-tip. This view is larger than the original.