nanke's stuff

Recently I was asked what my favorite studio toy is. After thinking it over, I decided that my very favorite is pencils. While I love lots of other things - pens, paints, ephemera, beads, fibers, ( need I go on?), what I love the most is pencils. I love the flexibility of them - they can make hundreds of different kinds of marks and textures, contrast and highlights can be spectacular, and the level of detail possible is amazing. They can produce richness and delicacy and they make rendering easier with the handy, dandy eraser. Plus, they are the most portable of all the art supplies and they can write on lots of different surfaces - that means you don't even have to take a sketch pad with you! You can use napkins, place mats, even scraps of paper you find laying around on the street if you're desperate enough (which I have been known to do). They won't drip or leak in your pocket or purse, and with just a small container, you can carry several of them at once, giving a wider range of effects than just one allows. I love colored pencils too, but that's a whole different story! I recently found out about a website that's all about using pencils for drawing, and it's wonderful! I'm sure I'll be checking on it often. You can find it here: http://www.sibleyfineart.com/index.htm

Here are a couple of drawings I've done - Chief Joseph was a gift to my mother after she and my step dad moved to New Mexico and became very interested in native American history and artifacts. The other is a quick drawing of a pair of shoes that both my sons wore when they were children. I especially love that one because it evokes so many sweet memories.