So, I was in a mood the other night. I really felt the energy to stay up late and work. And you know when you have that good vibe, you just can’t go to bed, because that’s when good things happen.
I sat at my extra large drafting desk, which always lays flat for the utility of the monstrous table top, (but mostly because I inherited it from a local glass studio and one of the incline knobs is missing!) I cut up some Bristol Smooth because I am working with pencil on these next couple of projects, and went to work. As the first hour passed, I was struggling with my proportions, but I hadn’t begun to swear yet. My drawing was looking very juvenile and I thought, “Well, it’ll come together as I continue. At 1:00 am, I finally went to bed, and I had exhausted all the expletives that George Carlin ever used. Time lost; can’t get it back. That piece is in the trash.
Anyway, the next morning, I got up and started again, and finished this little portrait of an 11 year old Pomeranian named Zoe Bear. She apparently knows 200 different toys. I can’t imagine having that many toys, but I do know this: When Zoe goes, she wins!
The very first media I remember using was a pencil. We didn’t have much growing up, but there always seemed to be a pencil and paper lying around. My Dad would give me those flat construction pencils to draw with and tell me they were special!
I started babysitting at the young age of 8, (believe it or not), and I found my thrill copying photographs out of Time or Life Magazine to pass the time. (No, not the naked tribal pics!) These were my humble art beginnings. The first person I drew was a beautiful woman with a scarf or hood framing her face and her brilliant green eyes! I don’t think it was the “Time’s” pent ultimate photo, you know the one I’m talking about, but it may have been, it was the mid 70’s!
I remember that my brother, who was 3 years older than I, was already drawing well! I wanted to emulate him. I would take his drawings and finished them or try to do what he was doing so I could be good, too! He was a great person to have for a big brother, because it didn’t seem to bother him that I always hung around! We are still inseparable in spirit and behavior, even with 3000 miles between us.
I used 12 different grades of graphite for this piece, so I wouldn’t have to apply any pressure. What a joy it was, and how different from my early days of just pressing really hard to get the dark lines, which would emboss my paper with lots of shiny dents! It was nice to remember back, anyway.
On to make a French press pot for the last of the afternoon splendor!
