Dogs, Cars and More Randomness at Zoka

4/29/15 Sailor Doyou ink, Caran d'Ache Museum water-soluble colored pencil,
Canson XL 140 lb. paper

Today’s lesson at Zoka Coffee was squirminess, both human and canine.

Other random observations:

• I find the three-quarter view of a person’s head – less of the face showing than a profile (the man facing left, below) – is one of the most difficult angles to sketch.

• Outside the window where I was seated is a bike rack where people like to tie up their dogs while they dash in for coffee. Dogs waiting for their humans – in these cases a shivering Chihuahua and a part-Dalmatian, I think – always have such worried expressions, staring in the direction that their person went, or nervously glancing from side to side, until the expressions turn to pure relief when their humans return, after all. 

4/29/15 Sailor Doyou ink, Caran d'Ache Museum water-soluble colored pencil

• Have you ever heard a car being described as feeling like part of one’s body? My car is narrow, short and very low to the ground, so when I make a turn, I feel attached to the vehicle as it moves. (In Greg’s much larger, higher car, I feel my body lurch through the turn like an afterthought – definitely not attached.) This morning, its first time at Zoka, my new pen became part of my body. I know it’s just a pen and not an appendage, but unlike other pens I use, this one feels like it’s attached. It probably doesn’t show in my sketches, but my lines feel more fluid.

4/29/15 Sailor Doyou ink

4/29/15 Sailor Doyou ink, Museum pencil

4/29/15 Sailor Doyou ink