My friend Linda and I went out to dinner last week. While we waited for dessert I used my portable watercolor kit (see previous post) to do this sketch. One fun thing about sketching is that it’s a conversation starter; we ended up having great conversations with two of the servers.
It’s fun to have a kit with watercolor supplies sitting by the front door, ready to grab as you go. If you find yourself in a waiting room or a coffee shop, you’re all set to make a quick sketch.
Here’s what’s in mine, both in and out of the bag. Each underlined word is a link to that item on Amazon. These supplies are surprisingly affordable, especially considering that watercolor paint, when rewetted, is good for years — the total cost of this kit is $47 plus $40 for the optional items.
Watercolor Palette with 24 colors and three waterbrushes. (Just $19!) (Video: how to use a waterbrush.) Field sketchbook. Sharpie. Bag. Ordinary #2 pencil. Napkin. Optional four items top left: Kneaded eraser. Travel brush. Collapsible cup. Pencil Sharpener.
When we were in Brooklyn last week for the birth of baby Maggie, I went to a cafe near the hospital and did this sketch of the buildings outside the window. Such a meditative way to spend a few minutes. Next Friday I’ll post a photo of the supplies I used, with links, in case you’re interested in creating a portable watercolor kit.
We have returned from Brooklyn to Boston, and sadly are not there to celebrate (and sketch) Maggie’s one week birthday. On to more mundane topics.
New Englanders try not to complain, but the weather for the last two months has sucked. Spring is a figment of our memory and hope. On Monday during the Boston Marathon it was 43 degrees and pouring cold rain. The only popular place outdoors was our thistle feeder, and the goldfinches are molting into bright yellow their breeding plumage. As I sketched, I added a blue sky, which — if you live in Boston — you know was pure imagination.
A few lines are all you need to make a sketch which turns out to be universal of mothers and their infants. And what is more appealing than the way newborns scrunch themselves up when they sleep?
Our beautiful granddaughter Maggie (Margaret Grace) was born to our daughter-in-law Eva and son Andrew in Brooklyn on Wednesday. 10 pounds 5 ounces, normal delivery, perfectly healthy. We are all thrilled and so blessed!
What potential does this new life hold?
As we await the birth of our granddaughter, I spent this morning looking through some of my older art. Here are some sketches of Sara, a lovable Dutch dwarf rabbit who lived with us for nine years. When we bought Sara, we were told she as a girl, and she looked incredibly feminine. Then one day, we babysat for a friend’s rabbit, and within seconds, Sara mounted the visiting rabbit. A month later this rabbit had babies. Thus we learned that Sara was misnamed, but it was too late for a name change.
As we eagerly await the birth of our grandchild, I’ve been thinking about the overused word “love.” While it’s central to all the world’s religions, and found in nearly every pop song, what does it really mean? I like this quote from Sharon Salzburg, “When we really examine kindness, we find it is a deep and abiding understanding of how connected we all are.”
You’d never know that spring is coming if you looked outside to see snow falling in Boston right now. But the bunnies who are appearing in the yards in our neighborhood seem to be confident that spring is on the way.
Meanwhile, Bruce and I are on pins and needles because our son Andrew’s wife Eva is 9 months pregnant with baby Maggie. We jump every time the phone rings, and can’t wait to hop in our car and head to Brooklyn for our granddaughter’s birth day!
