Daily Archives: April 21, 2011

Frog Eyes

Sketch of Red Legged Frog

Red Legged Frog

Another Ben Hame sketch.  Being snowbound is a luxury for anyone with a sketchpad and a fistful of pencils.  My original intent was to sketch from my own photo references, but the combination of the all-pervasive light reflecting from snow everywhere, plus my Oregon light-starved eyes, made it impossible to see the laptop screen well enough.  The solution: magazines and books and still life.  This froggy was featured in (I think this is right) a Nature Conservancy magazine article about my own Willamette Valley!  When asked to name the frog, Henry, age 2.5, didn’t even blink before responding, “Frog Eyes”.

Chinese Ritual Bronze Bell

Sketch of Bell
Antique Chinese Bronze Bell

Browsing the bookshelves at Ben Hame last week yielded a heavy, luxe edition of “The MacLean Collection – Chinese Ritual Bronzes”, and on page 145 I found this fascinating specimen.  The colors in the aging bronze ranged from lichen green to bright orange rust, and the dragons at the top seemed to be trying to scratch their own backs with their teeth.