EDM #117 and #28 and "Best Buddies"

EDM #117 -Draw Something Round

I bet you don't know what this round thing is! I wouldn't have known three years ago, but now it is a part of my life several afternoons a week. This red, round item is the "stamper" that I use to put a postmark on letters and packages at my Post Office. It has a flat side so that it won't roll off the counter and so that the postmark can be positioned correctly. If you put your thumb on the flat side, it assures that the post mark will be upright!

The handle is made of wood and really is bright, shiny red. The end of it has a circle of rubber type that lists the city, state, our Contract Postal Station number, and a place for the date. In the center are three tiny slots for the month, day and year. I have to use tweezers to take the numbers out and put the next ones in. At the end of each day, one of us changes the date and stamps all the forms for the next morning.

When I joined the EDM list, "draw something round" was the challenge for that week. I drew this at work, in pencil, and painted it in watercolor sometime later. I touched it up last night and lifted a little bit of the color in the dark areas. The Holbein watercolors lift with ease, blend smoothly and are very rich. They are highly saturated, a little goes a long way. In my opinion, that makes them an economical choice for artist quality paints. They are my favorites! Paper is a page from the small watercolor Moleskine.

EDM #28 - Draw an Appliance

I did this sketch on a terribly hot day at Stan's Laundry, where it was also very hot. Stan's is close to home, and the majority of the machines are in working order - most of the time. This giant costs $4.50 to use but holds a huge quantity of laundry. On this particular day, I was there to wash every throw rug and "dog towel" in the house. Twelve little dog feet and daily summer rains create a bunch of laundry! This is in the 5"x8" Moleskine Notebook, sketched with a Cretacolor GraphitAquarell, 4B. I brushed on a bit of water when I got home. The GraphitAquarell is smooth to use and erases easily - without smudges. I use it for Sudoku too - lots of erasing!

Speaking of little dog feet...

Here are two more sketches. One is in pencil and the other is in ink with Faber-Castell Aquarelle Pencil. They are done in a Bateman Sketch book which has a firm, smooth paper that handles a bit of wet media pretty well.

There are two Doxies in these sketches. The one on the right is a black and tan, and very, very round. These little guys are three years old and have been inseperable companions since we got them. They are crated together when we are out and they sleep together on my chair, the sofa, or the dog bed. Doxies seem to do best when they are part of a "herd" and prefer to sleep piled up on one another. Since it is hot weather, side by side will be OK for now!