#16 - Petey

CAP: In honor of the dog from The Little Rascals, this is Petey.

LEO: Yes, he does have 'Petey eye'. This is maybe my favorite design in this group to draw, he is so mellow, friendly and easy to play with. And he has YELLOW eyes!

#15 - Rexy

CAP: Aha...one of the cats that was left "plain".

I really love the plaid...and all the colors.

This is Rexy...for the gold crown.

(We eat at a Thai restaurant named Rexy's and there are amazing things painted on the walls and lots and lots of gold.)

Leo: Howdy, Rexy! By 'plain', Cap means i put cheeks or a mane on most of this cat design to make the head more symmetrical. No explanation for this; normally i'm a pretty asymmetrical type! But this guy had the perfect lines, he just needed to be plaid!

Greetings!

CAP: Hello -- Perhaps you have found your way here to the blog because you are the new owner of one of these "Penciled In" drawings.

If you don't see your drawing listed yet, come back periodically. Please feel free to post a comment. Let us know what machine your piece came from. Tell us if the name fits for you, or if you would call it something else.

Just say "hi".

In any case, Thank You! And thanks for stopping by!

"The Naming of Cats"

The Naming Of Cats by T. S. Eliot

The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn't just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.
First of all, there's the name that the family use daily,
Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo or James,
Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey--
All of them sensible everyday names.
There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,
Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:
Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter--
But all of them sensible everyday names.
But I tell you, a cat needs a name that's particular,
A name that's peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,
Such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,
Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum-
Names that never belong to more than one cat.
But above and beyond there's still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover--
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name.

#14 -- Loretta

CAP: Meet Loretta.

I like the name Loretta. Lots references, including Loretta Young and a Steve Harley lyric.

LEO: Hey, i love that name, too, though Do Not Love Loretta Young. Loretta Lynn, why, yes! I called her June Cleaver when i was coloring her.

CAP: Oh...THIS is the June Cleaver one! Okay. But how come the "do not love" Loretta Young?

#13 -- Mick

CAP: I rolled the virtual dice and got a total of 13...which gave me the letter M.

Let's see...how's about calling this guy Mick.

LEO: Oh, this guy is SO a Mick. Look at that red jacket! I kept doing these vibey backgrounds. Must have been channeling Louis Wain. Late Louis Wain.

#12 -- Camilla

CAP: Camilla. No reason, just Camilla

LEO: It was really fun doing the markings on her face. She means business, like my cat Nell.

#11 -- Rusty

Cap: I really like this one. I also like the background a lot. Rusty.

(Note: this cat is NOT named for Rusty the Chicken from The Friendly Giant, nor is he named for Rusty Cuyler from Squidbillies ... although I like both of them.)

Leo: Okay, now i AM thinking of Rusty the chicken! If i color another one of this style, i could give him a comb in Rusty's honor. And everyone would think it was a mohawk.

#10 -- Caffey

Cap: This drawing was adapted from an original ceramic tile I made and I believe I called it "Dog Brew". I'm going to call this dog Caffey...part caffeine, part coffee.

Leo: This design is particularly fun to color, and the steam is so nice in your design. Caffey doesn't look too wired... yet.

#9 - Cocoa

Cap: She's got a Chanel/Jackie O/Sixties kinda thing going on...let's call her Cocoa.

Leo: Yeah, she does! I really like this gal, she looks even better 'on the block'.

#8 - Sparksy

Cap: His whiskers look like sparks to me. Sparksy.

Leo: He's one of French-ified dudes. Actually, he's Basque. Sparksy wants you to think he was running with the bulls, but he's not dumb. Though he does drink red wine mixed with coke.

#7 - Reine Brune

CAP: Hmmmm...what's her story? What's her name? I like her crown and whiskers.

How's about Reine Brune. ("Speak in French when you can't think of the English for a thing.")

Leo: Lucky for you she likes her name. She's benevolent, but formidable.

#6 -- Grampy

Cap: This guy is so cool...he cracks me up. Every time I look at him I get a different story in my head about him.

Just now he looks to me like he could be an ol' mountain man moonshiner named Grampy.

Leo: Okay, now you have me picturing him hopping about dancing to a fiddle player. Or maybe a fella whistling into a jug. He could do that.

#5 -- Fritzi

CAP: How fashionable is this cat?

When Sue and I were kids we had to spend a lot time at the pool at the country club because both parents played golf. It was tortuous (really, it was) but it was cool after waiting all day when a parent was finished because then Sue and I could go over to the clubhouse side and hang out having "cocktails" with the friends of whatever parent was done. One of my mom's friends was named Fritzi. She had the most stylish clothes and looked so amazing after the ladies changed out of their golf clothes into their "real" clothes.

Let's call this cat Fritzi.

And I love her background, too.

LEO: I love the name Fritzi because it reminds me of the Fritzi riz comic, which i loved.

#4 -- Pinky

CAP: This is one of you "cotton candy" cats. Hmmm...what can his name be?

He kinda reminds me of that character I made on a tile a few years ago (that was based on a guy that was working on my house at the time). So in "honor" of them, this is "Pinky".

As you know very well, I love cotton candy. I also really love the purple around this Pinky's eyes and his slight smirk. This Pinky makes me smile.

LEO: I like Pinky's face, too, and of course i was thinking about cotton candy when coloring these fluffy pink guys. Bet his curly whiskers are sticking to his face!

#3 -- Queen Tangerine

CAP: See...this series is so much better now that Juana is doing the coloring. She brings a much needed infusion of personality to the basic drawings.

The smaller, plainer one on the right is from the last set that I did solo. I like mine, but I really love Juana's color combos and shading and stuff. It is really difficult for me to choose colors and I don't "get" how to shade effectively.

Also, being an artist who can draw and paint, Juana is able to add elements and totally change the look. This basic, standard issue cat king became a fantastic cat queen.

Believe me, I am not cutting myself down...I just know my limitations.


LEO: Actually, i think you are really gifted with color. Think i like yours just as much as mine! But i really enjoy playing with other people's designs. Once i know they like the results, it's a bit less stressful than building a new piece from the ground up.

Also, you get to name ALL these guys, because your names are so good. When we post one that i did name, i'll give mine, too.

did you try the guitar?

Hey...did you try out the guitar on the right side of the blog? Scroll down...

You can "strum" it or activate the keyboard thing and play "chords" and stuff.

I think it is pretty amusing.

#2 -- YT

CAP: Here is # 2 of the debut batch of 50 "Penciled In" colored pencil drawings by the collaboration Cap & Leo for Art-o-mat®.

I am going to call this one "YT".

LEO: Why "YT"? I like your names, i only named about ten percent of them while doing them! He looks sorta 80's 'punk', or he's got a 'Fonz' thing going on...

CAP: heh..."Whitey"...he's a white cat.

The "Gallery" begins

CAP: Here is # 1 of the debut batch of 50 "Penciled In" colored pencil drawings by the collaboration Cap & Leo for Art-o-mat®.

I am going to call this one "Cloudsy".

I wonder where it will end up? I hope that folks will come to this blog and post a comment...let us know what machine they got their drawing from, etc. It is fun to find out things like that.

LEO: The cloud ones - this was the first - look very peaceful to me. Key question, is this one a male or female? I suppose it's a guy, a King Cloud Guy!

CAP: Well...you know me...a crown means "queen" to me usually. But I think I agree this time -- this looks like a King Cloud Guy to me, too.

On their way (finally)!

Well...after a few unavoidable (and pesky/minor) delays, I shipped out the debut batch of 50 "Penciled In" by Cap & Leo today!

Ask your local Art-o-mat machine host to put some in their machine!