The idea and inspiration behind Little Millie

I have never really attempted to create artworks of animals before.

I love animals.. Our house consists of two dogs, two cats, two rabbits and a gerbil (one unfortunately died!). They are a source of great inspiration and comfort on a daily basis and are a pleasure to have around our home.

Me and my wife had never had cats in our house before. Luckily for me I had the pleasure of 'inheriting' two cats at my old house. I was about three weeks away from moving into my first house when I got a text message from the owner asking if I wanted two cats! I have never owned cats before but seeing as they were at risk of being sent to a cattery permanently, I agreed to have them in my new home.
When I moved in, it was such a pleasure to look after them, they were no trouble and I became a 'cat person'! Unfortunately the pleasure of their company was short lived as the previous owner phoned saying she missed them so much and wanted them back. I agreed. And soon regretted it. I really missed them when they had gone.

Years later... Millie and Lloyd blessed our home with their presence! My wife heard that the cleaner at her work's cat had had kittens and was looking for new homes for them. We excitedly agreed and she brought round a cat carrier with three tiny kittens into our home. We picked Millie and Lloyd and they have been with us ever since!

One day whilst thinking about what art project to start next, I had the image of our cat Millie when she was a kitten, sat nervously on a bookshelf while taking a rest from exploring the house! The scene was captured in a photograph. It was taken from the other side of our living room and our large dark bookshelf standing proudly in the corner of the room, its eight mighty shelves lined with big heavy books. The third shelf from the bottom was only half used and Millie had decided to jump up, sit down and observe the room while she rested!

This scene of a tiny kitten on our shelf prompted me to create the digital painting of Little Millie. I tried to create the scene in colour pencil but it just did not look right at all. So I tried again using the program GIMP, a freeware program and freely available to download. I had fun choosing the bold and light colours. I decided to place Millie in the bottom right hand corner to show how tiny she really is.. jut like the day she sat on our bookshelf!

Nowadays Millie would never fit on our bookshelf as she is now a big six year old cat!

Please view her in my portfolio!!

Many Thanks for stopping by,
Paul Hill.