I’ve been busy the past few days and haven’t attempted another cat drawing, except one that went disastrously wrong because I used the wrong paper.

For anyone new to this blog, I’m attempting to illustrate a story I wrote about a big cat who everyone thinks is mean, but really isn’t.

The wrong-paper cat drawing wasn’t going to work anyway, but it was still frustrating to see something that I’d taken some time and effort on ruined when I applied watercolors. It was a reminder that, even when you’re experimenting, use the right supplies.

So I tried again just now, trying for a totally different style. The last cat that I posted here was, I felt, kid-friendly enough for a children’s book, but I wasn’t totally certain that it was “the” cat.

This time, I deliberately went for a simplistic version of a cat–both for kid-book appropriateness and for the ease of replicating it, page after page:

Is this “the” cat? The big cat who looks mean but really isn’t, in a kid-friendly sort of way?

My dear hubby says he likes this version, and that I should go with it. I’m not sure yet–at the very least, this cat needs some tweaking. But maybe I’m getting closer. I sure hope so.