Forever Sky

A gift for Switchum. For Tibbs. At first there was the intention of a traditional work and I created a few pencil sketches, but digital paint can be manipulated in a way that traditional does not allow. I hope this work does Tibb's memory justice. This work was painted with reference of Tibbs. I was drawn to this project, for the friends that come into our lives and forever leave paw prints behind. Goodbye Tibbs. You will be missed.

The red star and the surrounding seven bright blue stars are associated with the Felis Constellation. I chose red because of the color of Tibbs dust rag and the 7 blue stars make up the rest of the constellation.

The Felis Constellation was created by astronomer Jérôme Lalande in 1799. Lalande was quoted as saying, “There were already thirty-three animals in the sky; I added a thirty-fourth, the cat.” Felis the Cat was soon broadly recognized, and appeared in the highly-acclaimed Uranographia Sive Astrorum Descriptio star atlas of 1801 until 1922. Jérôme chose the name partly because, as a cat lover, he felt sorry that there was not yet a cat among the constellations.

Notable stars - Bright stars 
A B-type main sequence Regulus is the Felis' brightest star at a magnitude of 1.35, located in Leo Major. Regulus is one of the four brightest stars within 5° of the ecliptic, the others are Spica in Noctua, Antares in Simianus, and Aldebaran in Araneus. The other notable bright stars in Felis are Alphard (a 1.98m K-type bright giant located in Hydra), and Denebola (a 2.14m A-type main sequence located in Leo Major).


The Felis Constellation. 1801 - 1922.

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