Drawing the painting Carrots on Aurora Avenue North

I pinned up a sheet of tracing paper on my canvas drawing surface and stared at it for a while. Often times the very shadows on the paper will suggest curves and lines and some of the three dimensionality of foreshortening. This time I saw the curve of the sun in the upper right and began there. Some more staring and I was able to see my head/face and the angle of the placard sign that I was carrying. With these in place, I could sketch in my legs/feet.

The next challenge was to arrange Mr. Maraschino, the dog, the rabbit and the carrot. I realized at this point that Mr. Maraschino would be in the foreground, essentially in front of the sign that I would be holding.

More staring at the emerging drawing made me realize that I needed some connecting elements from my face/the sun and suddenly I saw a truck in this area with the sign "carrots" on its side. With elements in place, I could put in the easle, the canvas and the painting rabbit. The oval in the bottom right would be the rabbit's palette.

August 2, 2008 I finished drawing myself. I'm holding a sign "I've got paintings, you got $, let's deal" which looks like a piece of paper. I have an appropriately anxious look on my face. I'm wearing bohemian sandals.

Thinking about the drawing of myself, the sun behind me, the oncoming truck in the painting. An inspiration suggested that I paint the sky orange. An artificial color. I was examining the last painting in the series, Janie's Junkies and realized that the blue sky is not active enough.

August 3, 2008 Here are the cars and trucks in the distance.

August 9, 2008"One of the rabbits is standing with his hand on the carrot. He's proud of the carrot and has his thumb in the shoulder strap of his coveralls.

The dog is scratching a flea. Mr. Maraschino is holding a paint brush.

Finally, the second rabbit who is "painting" his version of this painting. How happy he looks!