The smell of the grass Barrie just mowed, the wind in the leaves of the trees, the sound of humming birds fighting at the feeder, the sight of a magpie sitting in the sunlight on a fencepost, the sound of Willie Nelson crooning on the iPod, the sound of Kasey giggling about something, the feel of drawing paper and a pencil in my hand.

There, I almost wrote a poem, didn't I?

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Here are the tools I am using on the pencil drawing I have started.  Some of this stuff is new, some not.  The brush is to whisk away eraser leavings.  The thing that resembles a compass is the proportioinal divider I just got.  It's pretty nice, but I'm a little unsure yet about the best way to use it. It's great for measuring parts of the picture, but I still have problems getting my angles correct.

Then there's the lead holder, which I have had for probably 30 years.  I never used it, becaue the only way to sharpen it was with sandpaper, and very messy.  Then I found the little lead pointer that does a good job of keeping a point on the lead.  I'm using a paper stump for blending, and the new electric eraser.  I use the sandpaper to make a sharp point on the eraser to erase tiny places or fine lines.



And with all that stuff, this is all I have managed to produce!  I'm not sure I'll even finish this, as I used an unfamiliar paper, and really hate it.  I like a smooth, plate finish paper for drawing, but this is like trying to draw on waxed paper.