Rainy day on vacation? A perfect time to pull out your sketchbook!   One day last week NW rains splattered on the window, but I was cozy in my cabin at Decatur Island. Looking around for something to draw, I noticed my son’s old hiking boots on the floor next to the sofa, so I thought “why not?”  With a Sharpie ultra-fine point pen, I used a modified type of “contour drawing” in which one tries not to lift the pen from the paper.

After the sketch was completed I painted with a very limited palette of Winsor & Newton dioxazine violet and raw sienna. Being opposites on the color wheel, the two blended for something close to brown or grey..

Recommendation:  to keep up your drawing skills, have a sketchbook handy and sketch anything available–even an old pair of shoes!

KC