“Bobo Reclined, 12.24.23, Xmas Eve, 10:15-10:45pm”, graphite and pen, 9 x 12”, 2023. This is one of the more successful and playful portraits I’ve made of Bobo the sheepadoodle. He stayed in this position for a fairly long time, I believe the first 15 or even 20 minutes of this drawing, which took 30 minutes total. After he shifted to another part of the couch, I spent an additional ten minutes filling out parts of the background / surroundings, the white extension cord on the floor, the shadows of the couch structure, the roughed-in coffee table with books. I’ve had fun and success mixing graphite and ink for my sketches and for more involved pieces. A lot of the tone in the background of this piece is made with smearing the graphite (and occasionally the pen ink before it is fully dry) around on the very smooth paper. The paper in this sketchbook has almost no “tooth” - it is very smooth and the graphite spreads evenly over it. Bobo and I had a lovely, quiet Christmas Eve together.

“Egret at 2219 Fairview, 2-2:10pm, 12.31.23”, graphite, 9 x 12”, 2023. This portrait of an all-white Egret, made in graphite on the last day of 2023, was made from life, looking at this subject while it held perfectly still on a log (fishing) just off the parking lot of my family’s houseboat on Lake Union. I had been trying for a few weeks to draw this bird - I knew it was about - actually the same bird has been coming to my family’s houseboat dock for years. I can tell because it leaves idiosyncratic tracks in the snow - two of its toes of its giant palm-sized three-toed feet are very close together. I got lucky this day, seeing it just as I was about to drive away. Rather than exit the car and risk startling it, I drew this from the driver’s seat, sketchbook and pencil in hand.

More sketches tomorrow…