Three Sketchy Tales
As part of our attempt to increase our drawing proficiency, Kathy and I have been trying to sketch regularly. But we are not necessarily out and about in places where we'd want to sketch, so we had to find another way to do it.
I decided to institute the "Quick Draw" challenge (yeah, I've been watching way too much Top Chef) while watch TV. I pause our DVR on some scene, and then we sketch it.
This has, of course, lead to brilliant sketches such as:
Portrait of a Doughboy
and
Girl walking on the wall in the Millennium credits
It sounds super dorky, and it is, but it's also a handy way to get some sketching in when it is raining outside or when you just don't have time to get out during the day.
I will say, though, that it is a lot nicer to do the Quick Draw while watching high definition television...because the picture really is lovely. For the coolest sketching, watch Discovery HD Theatre channel or another Discovery channel like the Travel channel, which often uses a higher resolution (1080) than other HD channels. Or, if you have a Blu-ray DVD player, pop in Planet Earth and have a go at some gorgeous scenery. It's like, like...like leaving the house or something! Or so I've heard.
* * *
Lately, I've been ordering a lot of art supplies for my classes and various personal projects. While Dick Blick is my mainstay for art supplies-the people at their Berkeley store are very friendly and helpful, and their catalog ordering is fabulous-I have started branching out and trying other online art supply vendors, as well. Jerry's Artarama had a great sale after Christmas and I saved a ton of money. And then recently, Cheap Joe's had a sale on the new, hard-to-find PanPastels that I wanted. Given that my partner has been laid off, this seemed a perfect time to buy, buy, buy (um, isn't it?) and so I did.
When my Cheap Joe's order came in last week, they included a catalog because I was a new customer. But that wasn't all. They also sent me a kit with a Cheap Joe's sketch book, pencil, sharpener, and eraser. I swear, you would have thought they included three free tubes of Golden Paint the way I clutched them and went on about it. I mean, how sweet, sending me a little sketch set to welcome me! Isn't that just the nicest thing?
"Dick Blick has never sent you a free sketchbook," Kathy commented. "Maybe we should tell them what Cheap Joe's did, give 'em a chance to catch up."
I laughed. Then I forgot about it.
Yesterday, when we walked into Blick Art Store so I could get supplies for the new semester, an employee invited us to "spin the color wheel" to win a coupon for the day. Kathy won a 20% coupon and I won...a coupon for a free sketchbook. No kidding.
Later, when Kathy commented on the irony and I, amazingly, just "got" it (I am comically slow in noticing these synchronistic events) I said, "Wow, that was really weird! Don't you think that's kind of spooky?"
And Kathy said, "No."
Right. She's known me for almost 14 years now. By this point, I'm the only one who is ever surprised at things like that. And here I am, wasting my powers on sketchbooks, when I could be out saving the world. Huh.
* * *
Speaking of not noticing things, for some reason I did not notice until today that Sarah Palin's daughter is named Bristol. Upon finding out, I rather maturely asked Kathy if she had a sibling named Vellum. I followed that up by suggesting that perhaps the baby be named, oh, I dunno, Sketch. As in, "the paparazzi grabbed a quick photo of Bristol and her son/daughter Sketch, on an outing." Hee!
As soon as I finished that thought, I realized, wait a minute, I want a nickname like "Sketch"! But, you know, you can only have a nickname like that if you have a two-syllable last name, preferably a Scottish or Irish one. Like, you know, if my last name was McNorth.
Because then I'd be Sketch McNorth.
Yeah. I totally want that name.
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