Friday, May 22, 2015

More ways to kill time...

While waiting for my beads, I also have been doing a little sketching in that "comforts" sketchbook. Sandwiches seem to be on my mind lately, and a bologna sandwich with a glass of milk joined the spam sandwich. This sketch, though, is more about a memory than about food. Maybe I was moved to draw it because I've been delving into the family archives finally, reading and scanning some letters written by my oldest brother who died when I was quite young, and knowing I have photos I could match up to them, maybe some actual things as well. This is taking more time than I anticipated but is very rewarding, and has sent me off on little research tangents to help me put together a more complete picture and story.

At any rate, it has me nostalgic and if you click on the picture, you should be able to read the nostalgic story behind this thermos. The other reason I wanted to sketch it was because of that rectangle pattern on the thermos. I struggled to capture the subtle gradation of color in the patterning, thinking if I just did pencil I wouldn't mess up, but mess up I did. I actually had a colored pencil that matched the darkest value and really should have used it, but then working out 5 steps lighter and lighter to a very pale yellow - well, I didn't have it in me to try. This is one time that rendering in fabric would have been easier! Oh well - it's all a learning experience at this point (you would not believe how small the first outline of the cup was)...and capturing of memories. 

2 comments:

Sherrie Spangler said...

What a treasure and what a wonderful connection to your dad.

Christine Staver said...

What a great story. I really enjoyed reading it. Certainly makes you think about the important things in life.