The Closet

The Closet
Originally uploaded by daveterry.

Closets are merely collection agents. They hound you for more stuff until you can't close the doors. I hate that. I usually keep this closet open since I store the copier in there. This means that I have to keep it neat or it'll drive me to insanity.

Two of my closets in the master bedroom don't even have doors. I yanked them off during the remodel two years ago and they sit abandoned in the garage. I haven't decided to put them back. Sad really, sitting alone, unpainted, stuffed in a dark dank corner. Once part of the house but no more.

In one of the master bedroom closets I have wire metal shelves, a short dresser, and dark wooden hangers. All my shirts line up and face the same direction. Except the ones I've worn once, they face the other direction. That way I can tell them apart. The ties are kept in a basket, wrapped in neat bundles so that all the surfaces are even and show a rainbow of color. I like just looking at the basket of ties. It's a happy view.

But this closet, the one in the sketch, is my office closet. I try to keep it neat too but it's a bit more difficult because I share it with two other members of the family. As I drew this sketch I got a little carried away and almost couldn't quit. After 30 minutes I decided to leave the back wall empty to help balance it against the top shelves.

This sketch was done using my Zig Millennium 05 and a Pentel brush pen (similar to Copic Miltiliner Brush Pen) for the dark black shadows. I sketched it in my handmade and hand stiched pocket sketch journal. I followed the direction of Trumpetvine Travels.

I suppose I ought to be less of a neatnic but that's just my nature. I like stuff in order, it reduces stress. The key, I've found, is just having less stuff.

Hummm, what else can I give away or toss out?

...dave
If you can't give away your possessions, you no longer own them. They own you. - Dave Terry

the slob

the slob
Originally uploaded by daveterry.

I am really hoping I'm missing something here.

I'm hoping this outfit is cool and I just, like, don't get it. I'm trying to get it, really.

Is this attire considered decent? This lady, and I use the term loosely, is actually wearing an undershirt in public. And it's a muscle-type undershirt mostly seen on muscle men. This undershirt couldn't cover armpits or bra straps.

The ridges of the undershirt expanded and contracted when she breathed, thus attracting attention to her string bean frame. The expansion and contraction arrested my attention for a few moments. I thought I was watching the hospital respirator of a deathbed victim.

She hunkered over the postage stamp sized table and scarfed her pie. The camouflage hat was pulled down across her brow. Her hair was tucked up underneath like a wiring harness under a greasy undercarriage. Her tiny pony tail jutted out rudely from under the cap like the cigar tailpipe of a kid's souped-up Honda Civic.

She did have a pearl stud earring, in her ear. Sometimes they appear other places but this one at least was in the right place.

Seriously, I wouldn't even wear this get-up in private.

...dave
It's always the badly dressed people who are the most interesting. - Jean Paul Gaultier

A Zig pen, glass, and flower

Zig pen, Glass & Flower
Originally uploaded by daveterry.

Just working a bit on composition. I need to focus on select elements of the scene and only draw them. I need to find a key focal point and draw that. Drawing too much detail tires the eye, bores the viewer.

Drawing stuff all over the page and then adding script or writing all around it looks the best to me. Leaving some white space helps to balance the page.

Composition is the focus this week.

...dave
A sketch is generally more spirited than a picture. - Denis Diderot

Glass Jar Sketch in Ink and Wash

Glass Jar Sketch in Ink and Wash
Originally uploaded by daveterry.

"Oh" she said "this binder doesn't have the bar code on it."

"Oh, yeah, look at that."

"Do you think you can go get a binder that does?"

"Ah, well, yeah, I guess."

I walked across the store floor and found one of the binders with a bar code. But when I walked back to the counter she had already begun ringing up a lady with a basket full of stuff.

I waited patiently for the woman to find her discount card in her cavernous purse. Then she rummaged through it again looking for coupons. The cashier didn't acknowledge me but kept scanning the woman's items. The woman asked over her shoulder "I hope you don't mind."

"No, not at all." I lied.

The cashier continued to ring up the sale and I continued to wait. I stood by the counter holding a single bar coded binder in my hand.

But I was tired of waiting. The woman now in front of me had more coupons to use. She had pulled cards of items too big to fit in her cart and the cashier scanned them and rang up more dollars.

Finally I set my bar coded binder on the counter and walked to the door without a word.

I really did mind.

...dave
"Treat every customer as if they sign your paycheck…because they do." - Author Unknown