Wednesday, September 24, 2014

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First Things First

 642?! Where did that number come from?  It's on the cover of a book 642 Things to Draw, published by Chronicle Books in 2010. 
When I first saw it, I thought I was holding a book filled with 642 pictures of things to draw.  But I opened it and found it was much better than that.  Except for captions of things to draw, the pages are all blank!  It's my job to add the pictures.  The items in this book range from such mundane things as a bottle cap to intangible things like girlish laughter. 

 While most of the drawing subjects are simple objects, some are rather challenging.  But all of them are great exercise and provide excellent experience and an opportunity to be quite creative. 

I'm Dave Merriam (Papa D to my grandchildren).  I have been interested in drawing and painting since the 1990s.  I enjoy landscape painting and still life in oil and acrylic, and love drawing anything in charcoal or graphite.  I enjoy drawing at least as much as painting. Drawing is fundamental to painting anyway -- a good painting begins with a good drawing.  Drawing is so much simpler -- just paper, pencil and an eraser (which is used not only for corrections, but also serves, in a sense, as a white pencil on a dark background).  

 I've had a lot of fun with these little drawings.  And with 642 things to draw, I have a lot more fun ahead of me. 

Things to Say

 Specifically ... Thank You!

 I received this book as a 2012 Christmas gift from three granddaughters -- Ellie, Evie and Vivian and their parents.  What a great gift it was!  Thank you so much for getting me started with this wonderful experience!

 A fourth granddaughter, Haley, gave me a big homework assignment.  She went through the book and picked out a bunch of things that she wanted me to draw.  Then Ellie picked several more. Altogether they selected 38 things to draw. See the list under Things to Come.  Thank you, girls, for helping me decide which things to draw next.  

 This book has no table of contents and no index.  There are times when I am inspired to draw a particular thing that I know I have seen in the book, but I can't remember where.  Thumbing through the book of 642 things to search for the right page is a big deal. But another drawing enthusiast, Mariale Ojeda, has made it a lot easier.  She performed the huge task of making a complete list of everything in the book, in her 642 Things to Draw Full List.  This list makes it much easier to locate the thing of interest.  Thank you, Mariale!

 Thank you for stopping by for a visit.  Hope you enjoy the drawings.  


Things to See

Drawing Gallery
Every month or so, new drawings are added to the gallery.  

All drawings made so far are shown in the Full Collection.


These are a few other drawings that I have done over the years that are not listed in the book.
Things to Come

These drawings were requested by granddaughters Haley and Ellie, so they will be my first priority, although I may occasionally deviate from this list and make a choice of my own.  Some of these have already been completed and appear in the gallery.

Update: As of January 2023, all drawings on this list have been completed.

  1. A skunk
  2. Bob Marley
  3. Fiji
  4. A roller coaster
  5. Brass Knuckles
  6. The Milky Way
  7. A Panda
  8. Best Friends
  9. A Football
  10. A Stick of butter
  11. A Rubber duck
  12. A moustache
  13. A caribou
  14. A Boom box
  15. A prom dress
  16. A sock monkey
  17. A moose
  18. The periodic table
  19. Perfume
  20. First love
  21. Middle school
  22. A string of DNA
  23. A stoplight
  24. A wooly mammoth
  25. Sushi
  26. A hippo
  27. The abominable snowman
  28. A tarantula
  29. An ink pot
  30. Tectonic plates
  31. A beach
  32. A wedding dress
  33. A tuxedo
  34. A convertible
  35. Polka dots
  36. Plaid
  37. Zigzag
  38. Yourself

Things to Do
  • Visit other blogs...
This is Mariale Ojeda's blog, showing her drawings and her very helpful 642 Things to Draw Full List.  Check it out.
https://doodlecompany.wordpress.com/

This blog is a collection of my ink drawings created specifically for the annual Inktober challenge.


This blog shows the activities of Papa D's summer art camp for five grandchildren.
https://papadsartcamp.blogspot.com/
  • Get one of these books...
...if you enjoy drawing.  They're great practice and a lot of fun.
Amazon has them along with many bookstores.  



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