My earliest memories of drawing were of trying to draw horses. This was done around age 6-7. (Magic Marker and crayon - 7.5"x10")
At around 6 years old, I started a Cat Club, which never really went anywhere, but I did manage to sign up a few family members. This was the folder where I kept the club information, and was probably made at around age 6-7. (pencil - 7.5"x5.5")
I drew these at age 9 while visiting my grandmother. There are four seperate pictures: a saber-tooth tiger hunting fish, some wolves having a confrontation, a cat hissing at a dog from atop a trash can, and a couple of airplanes flying in formation. (pencil - 1.5"x5" each)
I made this in 4th grade (age 9) for a bookmark contest. To my surprise, it won 1st place. (Magic Marker on construction paper - 4"x6")
Drawing and poem for class done at approximately age 9. (crayon - 9"x11.5")
One side shows my cat Rosy with her kittens, and the other side shows my other two cats: Patches and Midnight. This was done around age 9. (charcoal, colored pencil, & graphite pencil 8.5"x11")
In 4th grade (age 9), I entered the Camarillo Academic Olympics for the first time in the category of Art. The drawing I did of my sneaker, book, and pencil won first place. (graphite pencil - 9"x11")
These are the ribbon and certificate from my winning sneaker drawing done for the Camarillo Academic Olympics in 4th grade (age 9).
A picture of Raffy, the triple-eventing horse from the book Olympic Horseman by John Richard Young, done at around age 10-11. (graphite pencil - 5"x8.5")
These are the ribbon and certificate from my winning drawing done for the Camarillo Academic Olympics in 6th grade (age 11). Unfortunately, I no longer have the drawing.
It was the night before we were to move for the second time during 8th grade (age 13), and my cat Patches was sleeping on my recently cleaned off desk, using the desk organizer as a pillow. It was late, but I had to draw her anyway (oil pastels - 8.5"x11")
This was done for an art class my sophomore year in high school (age 14) from a photograph. (black and white scratchboard - 5"x6")
A Valentine's day card for my mother, done somewhere around age 12-13. (graphite and colored pencil - 4.25"x5.5")
I drew this shortly after getting a book on how to draw the big cats, at around age 13-14. (oil pastels - 8.5"x11")
This was done for a class sophomore year in high school (age 15). The four tigers are in four different media (clockwise from upper-left): pen and ink, colored pencil, charcoal, oil pastel. This drawing won first place in a high school art show in the category of graphic arts. (16.5"x28")
This is the ribbon for the four tiger heads that won first place in a high school art show my sophomore year (age 15). The category was graphic arts.