Orange Cat on a Fence on the Hill

As you can well imagine, there are all kinds of cats roaming around up here on the Hill. I've written about this before. Some are pretty tough looking with half their ears missing, matted fur and gnarly dispositions. Others have collars and seem to be well cared for. None of them seem to be too scrawny however, so there must be a healthy rat population or a lot of feline sympathisers.

This is a quick sketch of one of my favorite acquaintances. He or she doesn't have a collar and is a bit thin, but he must belong to someone because he's so darn friendly and I usually see him hanging out in the same area (I have changed his haunt to protect his identity and figured I might as well paint him in a place that I think best suits his personality).

Unlike many of the cats up here, this one always trots over to greet me. The first time I ran into him he was sunning himself on a fence. I really wanted to take more shots, but he jumped right down and mosied over to rub himself against my leg and cop a scratch. Now if I catch him somewhere and want to take photos, I have to pretend I don't see him, slowly walk by, snapping as I go or use my telephoto lens from outside his view.

Most of the time though, I stop and catch up on the local gossip. It's astounding what goes down up here, he says. I couldn't agree more, I reply.

Orange Cat on a Fence on the Hill • 8" x 8" framed to 12" x 12" • $200