Rules:
- Art and Design by HB, of course themed off of Elmo my beautiful 16 year old Tortiseshell Calico who I love so so much (definitely worth the money to get this amazing and beautiful reference) No breeding (wouldn't anyways) No reselling (wouldn't) Revamp must give HB credit (Won't be revamping tbh.) Can trade, but I won't. SHE WILL NEVER HAVE A MATE OR ANY KITTENS OKAY SHE'S FIXED. |
I got Elmo for my 3rd birthday, and thus named her after one of my favorite things at that age. If you judge her name I will judge you - you've got to realize it was a 2 year old's mind and you can't exactly change a pets name easily. Plus, it truthfully fits her - not in the same way it fits the red monster but just fits her.
Anyways, a bit about this 16 year old American Shorthair Tortiseshell Calico kitty, in 2000 she was born on a farm in New Jersey where family friends picked her out for me and delivered her to my parents where we lived outside of Philidelphia the summer of 2000 which I then received her for my birthday that July. She joined our family and became the second pet we owned, accompanying our Orange Tabby cat Blazer (hence the small orange-ish tabby plush named Blazer on her reference) who we had gotten the year before. When she was younger she would choose to hide under my bed which caused young me to crawl under my bed so I could "hang out" with my cat whom I loved dearly. She, of course, was not fond of me especially with how often I would grab her tail and try to snuggle her (which is what Blazer would easily put up with) but eventually got used to it - but still was never really fond of me until I was older. At her young age my parents did have her declawed (only the front) so although it's not something we'd do to her now it was what was done and I would like that to be remembered in her art as well. We moved to Montana when I was 8, so Elmo was 6 then and a couple of years later we adopted a small grey tabby cat who was long haired and we tried to name Misty but ended up calling her Missy. This small cat (who stayed tiny her entire life) and Elmo did not get along at all (Missy ended up running away when we moved to Wyoming 6 years later) but truth be told Elmo doesn't really get along with any other female cat. Once, in our small neighborhood in Montana, there was a cat that looked so similar to Elmo and these two would fight - they'd even fight through the screen door. One of their fights resulted in Elmo tearing her paw pad off, and being stuck in a cone for awhile while it healed. Her desire, after the incident, was to hide under the bed but the cone stopped her from being able to do so. Who could forget, 6 years ago - so 2 years before we left Montana when our dog Shepp added to the family. At first, the cats weren't sure what to do with a dog but eventually got used to him as he always remained about their size. Now they sure love him a lot, and he definitely fits right in - and will fearlessly protect Elmo, it's too sweet. We then moved to Wyoming, 4 years ago, when Elmo was 12. She is now allowed to go outside (something she never was allowed to do before, aside from the 2 years in Montana when we had Shepp and the cats went out the dog door) where she frequently can be found lounging in the sun, and soaking in all the warmth. She also chooses to use the grass as a potty more so than the litter box (but she won't step foot outside in the snow). She also is very spoiled and pampered like the Queen she (thinks she) is. She is definitely full of what I would refer to as Cattitude, but have recently seen called Tortitude (as it often is present in Tortiseshell, despite it just being a coat color in felines) but it fits her perfectly. Tortitude is defined as: "FROM Tortitude:The BIG Book of Cats with a BIG Attitude: "With about 2 million tortoiseshell cats in the United States, these special felines tend to be strong-willed, a bit hot-tempered, and often very possessive of their humans. Other words used to describe torties are fiercely independent, feisty and unpredictable." which is definitely my sweet Elmo, despite her old age and kitty arthritis. 4 years ago we had to put down Blazer, and that threw Elmo into a depression - and then 2 months after we put him down we adopted 2 6 month old Bombay brothers (Coal, and Minion - Minion has sense ran away, but we just saw him a week ago alive and exploring our neighborhood) She has now gotten used to Coal being around, and has (mostly) gotten over the depression - but still is pretty skinny (she lost a lot of weight after she lost her best friend) They now (occasionally) sit together on the glider outside on the deck, and definitely coexist well in the same house. Coal has realized that Elmo pretty much runs the house and also knows that she won't play with him like his brother (and possibly other litter mates) did, or how the dog does. It's a lovely life with our pets, and I miss them all dearly as I'm away at college. A few quick facts about Elmo (sorry for the long bio stuff about my sweet girl, I just adore her and wanted you guys to know all about her - I completely understand if you didn't read it (all, or some, or whatever): She adores chicken flavored Temptations, hence them being included in her reference. She likes to use things as pillows, but isn't really a snuggler - just a "will sit on top of anything" kind of feline. She does purr, very loudly - at least she used to be super duper loud, it's gotten a bit quieter as she's gotten older but at one point you could hear her if she was in the living room and you were in the basement (doors open, but still it's a distance away) and she has a deep purr, similar to a diesel or a motorcycle - just a deep yet loud rumble that is super comforting and I adore so much. She also snores (and purrs) in her sleep, and it's odd yet cute at the same time. She doesn't really play much, but if you've got a feather thing that hangs off a stick she will bat at it, and will chase a laser pointer but other than that she isn't a very playful cat and is mostly lazy. She often times can be seen with a grumpy look on her face, but she isn't always grumpy despite this look. She also, recently, has decided that the water outside (in the out door dish for the dog, that is often super dirty.) taste better than the water inside and asks to go out there just for a drink - most likely because she believes it's just her water and she doesn't have to share it with Coal and Shepp. I also have two different blankets that are green, orange, yellow, and white - and both seem to be her favorite of mine so hence the colors of her background on the reference (and the plaid is because we also have plaid blankets that she likes to lay on - and I just love it). She can often be found sleeping in the sun, or on a heated blanket (she just loves to be warm). On May 27, 2017, Elmo had to be euthanized due to health. After going down hill over 3 weeks, not eating for 3 or 4 days, and then throwing up blood that morning, it was her time to go. She is greatly missed, and still incredibly loved. My heart is aching so much but I know that she isn't anymore. She hadn't purred for at least a week and that was when my heart broke. Just right now it's hard for me - being 14 hours away from her. I miss her like crazy, and I'm so glad HB got the reference to me when she did, it happened exactly when I needed it to. The goodbye to this queen was the hardest as I left for college, and I miss her so much even though I haven't even been gone a week yet (written on August 29, 2016 - the day my parents and brother left me in Illinois, my 3rd night of sleeping in a dorm room.) The reference was a 9 month WIP as HB got to know Elmo as best she could via social networking and many many reference pictures (some can be seen in the slide show below) 9 months of planning, plus 1 month of art = 10 months I waited to get this beautiful reference from the amazing Half-Breed (HB). I received it at the perfect time, in my opinion, right when I needed it as I have left home and gone to college (3rd day living in the dorms) and the goodbye to my sweet cat was the hardest - she wasn't really sure what was going on and I was a hot mess of tears as I said goodbye to my queen. I could not have chosen a better artist to have capture my rl cat, Elmo, as you can see above. The process with HB was truly a beautiful thing - and I definitely recommend (when her comms are open) commissioning her for art (especially felines, but any HB art is beautiful). I especially am happy with the addition of the side views in the left hand corner that are easy to color versions of Elmo that include her main identifier markings but make her design seem less complex while still looking like her. Please use that - you can try the more complex markings and what not, but feel free to use the easy to color views. I could keep going on about my sweet baby, but I better stop. If you've got questions, feel free to ask me. Don't hesitate to explore her page on my site as well, or just ask me more about her as I love her so so much. Also, if you want, I'd love to see your HB Cat art if you've got any, or just HB art in general as well. Because as much as this is an intro post for my rl cat, it's also a huge appreciation for HB as she did all the art for Elmo, put up with my pictures (some super duper awful pictures, others better), and just put so much effort into getting to know my cat, and making sure all the markings were as close as she could get them. Thank you so much, HB!<3 |
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