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Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Cherry-Red Kenmore

1/29/14 Pitt Artist's Pen, Van Gogh watercolors,
Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook
Believe me when I say I am not one of those people who get excited about new household appliances, especially a vacuum cleaner. I would not be pleased if my husband gave me one for my birthday. Nonetheless, when our old vacuum gasped its last breath after many years of hard service, I actually was pleased to go to Sears to buy this highly rated Kenmore to replace it. The fact that it’s cherry red like my car was a bonus.

Halfway through this sketch, I realized that my complaint about vacuum cleaners (and probably many other household appliances) is very similar to my complaint about cars: They have no straight lines, yet they are also not organic, and the surfaces are shiny and reflective and therefore difficult to depict with watercolors.

The only advantage sketching this vacuum cleaner has over sketching most cars in my neighborhood is that you are less likely to be familiar with this particular model than you are with Priuses and Subaru Outbacks, so I might get away with less-than-accurate proportions.

(Can you tell it’s been raining a lot again, and I’m hard-up for things to sketch indoors?)

2 comments:

  1. Love the red color! It looks like you got the proportions right. Hope it works well for you. I saw the forecast for Seattle this morning was for 2 more days of rain. I don't think I could take that many rainy days, although I guess I would adjust. Stay dry!

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  2. Someone who shall remain nameless, though her name rhymes with Sheena, has given me a great idea for doing a sketch while I'm stuck in my house as winter rules the roost outdoors. For what it's worth, my complaint with vacuum cleaners is that they don't push themselves :-)

    Cheers --- Larry

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