Those skies are stunning in those drawings. Have you seen any Maynard Dixon? He was a brilliant painter of the West, his works have huge masses of sky and clouds.

Very lovely illos, ita. Techniques of dark-over-light that other illustrative disciplines can incorporate, as well.

You're all out having fun without me, aren't you?

Ha! No, getting ready to go camping. Our plan was to leave at 11. We have nothing packed or down from the attic. I'm going to say if we leave before 1, it's a win.

I'm sitting in the back yard of a house in Las Vegas, waiting for my friends to wake up. And I think the hair medicine was Rogaine.

A work thing blew up yesterday, and I didn't get the call until it was too late to do anything because we were at the spa. Perfect!

Today is weight on the foot day. Two weeks are up (I'm going to pretend I kept weight off the first week--that was impossible). So I'm onto one crutch evaluation. Also experimenting to see what makes it hurt. Sitting with both feet on the floor is not as painful as lying on my right side. I can't pretend to understand.

My sister was convinced to finish the Cornetto trilogy (FUCK, I want a Cornetto right now--it's been decades), so we'll be seeing that matinee instead of The Grandmaster which was the only other movie we agreed on. For some reason (IMAX?) The World's End is $3 cheaper.

I will be spending the next 15 minutes drawing "surprised hands". All very important.

He was a brilliant painter of the West, his works have huge masses of sky and clouds

It's not the content of the pictures that I'm trying to emulate right now, it's the placement of light and dark. Booth using the same medium as me convinces me it's possible, even if, you know, gulfs of talent.

If by "having fun" you mean "deep-cleaning the toaster," then yes.

The crumbs, my god, the crumbs. I could build a loaf of bread. It's a wonder we haven't set the kitchen on fire.

I went slightly out of my head and bought the Stumptown Camp Coffee kit [link] (the grinder fits inside the aeropress for compact packing! It's like a little emergency kit that is entirely about coffee. I could not resist.) so I have been drinking coffee out of a tin cup this morning and it is SO GOOD! I didn't even grind it by hand since I still have pre-ground from last week, really it's just a different cup, but so satisfying.

I'm trying to decide whether I should take today to rest (since my sinuses are being all stupid), or do laundry, or go to the fair. Although, now that I think about it, since my allergies are acting up, the fair might not be the best place, since hay generally sets off my allergies like crazy.

I bought this kettle for my trip to New Orleans, since it seemed like the smallest/best kettle I could find. It's still a little large for packing, though.