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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

New Drawings

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

Full Collection

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

Extras

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.

Papa D's Inktober Drawings

This blog shows the activities of Papa D's summer art camp for five grandchildren.
https://papadsartcamp.blogspot.com/

• Check out my Instagram page

Here you will find select drawings and paintings that I have created over the past decade of so.

Instagram/Papa D's Art Gallery  

• 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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