mainly tortillon

Smuding the 8B pencil makes a great way to shade cat stripes.

On Strathmore drawing paper.

always near, but nearly always sleeping

Wherever I am in the house, there's a sleeping cat. He transports through space to each location, often without being visible in the time/space continuum between.

4B pencil that turned into a w/c sketch when I needed color. On Raffine sketch paper, which is gorgeous heavyweight stuff.

smudgy jumble

Sometimes I just have to draw, whatever is closest, with whatever paper and media is closest.

Doesn't mean it turns out at all, it just relieves the drawing pressure.

Drawing can be an addiction.

4B pencil on Aquabee Superdeluxe. No eraser nearby. That might have helped.

making a path through the chaos

W/c and tech pen on 140# Arches.

top side

Standing over Chaucer as he ate, capturing an aerial perspective.

Fountain pen and w/c on Superaquabee.

9 houses

I started doodling houses and it turned into this.

W/c on Strathmore drawing paper.

nothing obvious

Enough representational stuff, time for an abstract!

W/c and w/c pencil on Moleskine w/c paper.

the comfy chair

The best tv chair at my friend's cottage. It has broad arms for drinks and drawing supplies, lots of afghans and pillows to arrange for comfort, and a lovely, shlumpy feel.

W/c on Aquabee Superdeluxe

8B pencil and tortillon

I've been skimming through Fast Sketching Techniques by David Rankin. He recommends using a 9B pencil and a smudging stump (the hard rolled tortillons) to have a range of values and quick application.

As a professionally trained artist, he had to work to relax into, and accept, fast, wonky sketching. Funny to think how he teaches it now, when most of us are trying to go the other direction!

I like the method, 2 simple things to carry that provide a large range of values with a painterly feel, no crosshatching.

And as Rankin says, using the tortillon to add values makes the technique something like a dry, single-hue watercolor sketch.

P.S. I used 8B graphite instead of 9B. 9B is relatively difficult to find!

cat and chair

Two of my regular themes.

W/c on journal paper.

towel rack

A convenient in-room towel storage and rack for that down-the-hall bathroom. I did just a partial coloring of the wall, not sure that worked.

Tech pen and w/c on SuperAquabee Deluxe paper.

more wicker

I found another cool wicker chair at a place I stayed in Maine. This chair was the most gorgeous lavendar wicker, didn't look painted. And the cushions were deep maroon.

I'm no longer intimidated by all those little wickers crisscrossing in front of my eyes. Progress!

Pencil on SuperAquabee.

granite everywhere

An attempt at a close-up of one of the millions of rockwalls everywhere in New England. This one happens to be in Maine--can't you tell?

A mere impression of moss and lichen-discolored boulders. But fun to try to catch all the planes and shadows.

Done while sitting on the wall, juggling w/c pens. (I always say that, it's exactly what it feels like.) There's some graphite and w/c pencil in there, too.

contours of little treasures

Just the outlines, of fish in the bathroom. They sit, rather than swim.

Tech pen on pre-painted background, SuperAquabee.