We visited the grand kids and family this past month.
Always a good time.
I am glad that I am still able to get down on the floor and hang out with them at their level. It’s hard to imagine the energy it takes to raise kids and I realize how much of it all I struggle to remember.
I didn’t draw as much when my kids were this age. Of course there were always excuses and thoughts of someday when I have more time.
Note to my 20 year old self: every day, sometime in the day, stop for 10 or 20 minutes and draw whatever is in front of you.
Some of the sketches are live and some from my phone camera, some of the better pages are just messy, (here are a few), but I like the feel of drawing from life. I feel like there is something more alive about it even though it doesn’t seem like much to look at afterwords. I am using mostly pen and ink here with a walnut colored ink in my Lamy fountain pen.
On the plane ride home we had unfortunate seating arraignments that had me sitting in the middle seat between two strangers. Not liking the idea of strangers at my elbows when I am drawing I had intended to just sit and do nothing. But after snacks I started thinking about how to avoid thinking about getting to the bathroom from a middle seat so I pulled up a picture on my phone to draw and half hour later I had a flight attendant telling me to put up my tray. So I guess that worked… This is a with mechanical pencil with a 2b lead.
For some reason this beautiful old Jesse Winchester tune comes to mind as I read what I have written above:
The sun shines on Biloxi
The air is filled with vapors from the sea
And the boy will dig a pool beside the ocean
He sees creatures from a dream underwater
And the sun will set from off towards New Orleans
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