The Dreaded Sketchbook: Douche Bag

Here is a little blast from the past entitled: The Douche Bag. I did this one sometime last year, shortly after a seemingly simple trip to the coffee shop ended in a great deal of irritation for me. An idiot woman pulled her car out of a parking lot and cut me off, which set me off in the first place, because I do not suffer fools gladly. Surprisingly, she was not on a cell phone, however she was talking to her passenger, she never did see me. As luck would have it she was on her way to the very same coffee shop, and of course, since she had cut me off, she was also ahead of me in line. When it is her turn to order, maybe you can see this coming, she had absolutely no idea what she wanted. Seriously! It was as though she had never in her life been to a Starbucks (I'd seen her in this very Starbucks on previous occasions, so I knew that was not the case). Therefore, the little barista gal had to explain all the various nuances for nearly every item on the drink menu to find something this pinhead would drink. Then, (because on days like this there is always a then) this moron douchebag decided she needed something from the pastry case. Lather, rinse, repeat. By the time it was my turn to order, I was seething, and believe it or not, the coffee had expired, and they dumped it down the drain.

Pencil Slut

I've come to the realization that I'm becoming a bit of a pencil slut. I seem to be bouncing from one favorite pencil to another, much like the town trollop on payday. No sooner do I find one I love, than a new one comes sashaying along, enticing me with unimagined charms, and smooth lines. Shortly thereafter the old love will be sitting in a corner of my pencil drawer, forlorn and abandoned, tossed aside like yesterday's cheese.

Before you consider me too much of a freak, let me back up a bit here. Many years ago, I caught part of a show on PBS about ants, and I noticed one of the ant experts was in the field with his sketchbook, using a mechanical pencil to great effect. So, I thought to myself: hmm, maybe I should give that a try. I don't recall what kind of pencils I had been using up until then, but I was soon hooked on mechanical pencils, using them almost exclusively. I never really thought about it very much, and then somewhere along the line I started adding a standard #2 pencil to the mix, I have no clue as to why that seemed like a good idea; if you haven't tried this, it works about as well as a lawnmower with one wheel missing, although not as dangerous. Nevertheless, somehow I failed to notice just how much I was struggling with my drawings and I couldn't figure out why, although I probably just assumed that I was a crap artist. At some point a few years ago I rediscovered colored pencils, specifically using them on colored pastel paper, although I've found that using the back side, which has less tooth, works better for colored pencils. I found myself struggling less, and enjoying the drawing process more, yet I still didn't make the pencil quality connection.

Fast forward to a few months ago, when I discovered Derwent Sketching Pencils, and it clicked: yes, Bob-O, there is a reason they make special drawing pencils, because they work. Thin lines, thick lines, shading, man alive! these Derwents had it all, and I was in love, or so I thought. Of course, this was before I discovered the almighty Derwent Drawing Pencil. It isn't graphite, but seems to be some kind of charcoal-colored pencil hybrid.I asked at the art store, but nobody could tell me definitively what exactly is in them. Not that it really matters to me, because they just plain rock! They're dark like charcoal, but without the dust, and oh so smooth, like drawing with liquid velvet. Okay, perhaps that's a bit too poetic, actually I would say its more like drawing with a skinny black lipstick. However, as wonderful as they are, already I'm finding faults, nothing major, just a bit too smeary, and they become dull too quickly. So while I'm smitten for now, but I know its only temporary.

* Just for the record, the above illustration was done in ink, and colored in Photoshop.

Coffee Shop Girl

Now here's one I did quite some time ago. I was sitting in a Starbucks one evening, when this lovely young woman came in. She just naturally struck this great pose while she was waiting to be helped (there were actually people ahead of her in line, but I didn't put them in). Anyway, I recorded it in my trusty sketchbook, and then nearly a year later as I recall, I did this digital version. More of a practice piece than an actual illustration.