the return (briefly) of the woodstove

past few days have been warm
raining and a bit dampish
but pretty warm
too warm for draft
soooooooo
today it was below 35 outside
i figured i would get draft...........sure enough i did!
thaddeaus is now warming himself in front of his beloved woodstove

i missed it's friendly glow as well

so we got a bouncing fire in there

i started a second drawing......this one of the garden and duck house

i wish my camera would get back from canon, (it's being repaired i believe.......as they think it is a manufacture defect) as i would love to start taking pictures of the ducks so i can get capture their antics
they go so fast i can't sit there and draw them too much from life
(besides, rain isn't too healthy for paper)

so next best is some pictures

i hadn't said anything to bernie, until he noticed the pad of bristol board
so i showed him

now i normally use rapidographs ( technical pens)
i use both rapidograph and stadler mars pens usually
however i can't find them!
somewhere in the studio is a full and complete set of stadler mars pens
and some extra rapidograph pens

but i didn't want to wait until i unearthed them so i got some disposable pens
pigma micron pens in a set of 6
they are ok
i do like them
the widest one isn't wide enough
and i would prefer a couple more mid-range
but i do like the 005 nib, it's nicely fine

i have discovered that the opaque photographic matte black crepe 1/4'' tape i use for borders is not manufactured anymore

that sort of sucks as it does really work well for a border

now i have to start inking them when i run out of this roll
bernie said chartpak has them
but we'll see
i couldn't find them

now a fast 'bless my art school' note
thank goodness they gave us a foundation year and taught us so many things that i doubt kids learn at art school now.....( although i could be wrong about that........they COULD be learning fundamentals)
to do type, instead of hand lettering.........which to say i am rust at is the ultimate understatement.........

i printed out a title phrase
carboned the back with a 2b pencil
and traced it on the board then inked it
FAST FAST
not too bad looking...........not as strong as hand lettering but for this it's fine

i am amazed also at how many things i remember, it's like second nature to do
i would say that art school really drilled this stuff into us
ok

garden news

the blueberries and blackberry are leafing out
i need to get them in the ground
i need peat for the blues.....
my outside seedlings are now sprouted
i wouldn't say they are actually 'up' yet
and the house seedlings are 2'' high
i would take a picture but the camera is at canon

gee i miss that camera at this time of year

bernie baked me a cake, i made filling and a boiled frosting for it
not too bad
he had two BIG pieces
i struggled with one piece

i had wanted an icecream cake
but no one thought of it

i guess there was too much else going on

btw, bernie's new (used) van is pretty cool
although it doesn't have a passenger seat
and it does have a wheel chair lift........( someone trying to tell me something?)
i can stand up in it
and i can tell you now
that 4 fully fleeced sheep and a chubby goat all fit in it
and they weren't too squished
i sat on the floor
they watched me

now in family news
my sister in law is coming out the end of may
she called to tell me she broke her wrist
she'd fallen a few weeks ago
and didn't get it looked at
but continued to pound nails in the windows and paint and generally continue to try and get a roof over her head again from IKE
all with a broken wrist.........three weeks worth of broken wrist

she's got a hot pink cast on now

i can't wait to see her as it's been over two years now
she helped bernie pound posts for the garden and put up the pen that is now the ducks day pen

i have to make sure i have enough extra lettuces planted to feed her as well
she'll enjoy that i know


til next time