I first drew this cabin back in the 1980s and might have taken a slide of the finished piece. A slide? Yes, Little Grasshopper, it was the way to get high quality photographs, back in the olden days when telephones were for making phone calls and cameras were for taking photographs. We also knew how to read cursive, paper maps, and face clocks. Sometimes we drank out of hoses in the yard, rode standing up in the back of a pickup, didn’t wear helmets while riding bicycles, and sometimes didn’t wear seatbelts either. It is a wonder you have anyone at all still alive over the age of 60 to help you understand the weirdness of the olden days. But that isn’t why we are talking about drawing today.
It began with 2 sketches. 
Mr. Customer chose the horizontal version. I began in my usual manner of lightly laying out where all the parts will go, and then started shading in the upper left corner.
Day #2 of shading brought me this far. I haven’t kept track of my hours – that is a pointless exercise since I charge by the size of the drawing. (Reminds me of what our guide in Israel used to say every time someone would ask him how long something would take – he’d say, “‘How Long’ sounds like a Chinese name.”)
This is the smallest size I draw now – it is 9×12″ and costs $200. (“How much?” is an easier question to answer.)
In case you are curious about pencils, my current favorite brand is Tombow, a Japanese word for “dragonfly”. They are smooth smooth smooth.
Drawing cabins using pencil is a return to my “happy place”, “comfort zone”, and “wheel house” to use all the current cliches. If I find the slide of the old drawing, I probably won’t show you because translating a slide into something digital is not in my wheel house or comfort zone, and never you mind about a happy place either.
2 Comments
I think we both probably had the best of childhoods – because boredom led to creativity.
I remember laying on my back in the summer – watching the clouds and wanting it to nrver end. Yes/ I had the poster Endless Summer.
With Covid – everyone has experienced a simpler life – and thankfully they’re discovering the beauty of a slower pace.
I have been making little notecards using watercolor pencils. I love it. The control of a pencil- then the softness of a watercolor.
So fun.
Anne, you are a remarkably balanced and wise person. Thank you for sharing your experiences and thoughts. Boredom leads to creativity, and we were fortunate to have been raised in such a boring place!
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