A mug filled with pencils, pens, and scissors is one of those subjects I tend to fall back on when I don’t want to think about what to draw. Here I experimented with a different kind of hatching for the metal of the scissors.

On my first day in Anchorage, I slept so late that when I got up my roommate and the other choir members in our hotel were long gone, so I walked to the art museum and did some sketches in an exhibit called The Shamans: Spirit Guides of Siberia. Many items in the exhibit were made from elk leather with wild carp and salmon skins appliqued to it, and had bear fur linings. They were often decorated with mineral paints or embroidered. I wish I’d had more time to draw these things. I’ve searched on the Internet but haven’t found pictures of any of these items close up enough to show the embroidery and paining. But I’m glad to have seen what I did.

In the Danny Gregory spirit of drawing a bunch of stuff for the sheer fun of it, I drew this collection of products bought at a recent trip to the drugstore.

Our choir went to Anchorage and Kodiak recently to sing for the 35th anniversary of the canonization of the Orthodox Saint, Herman of Alaska. A heavy singing schedule left little time to draw (or even photograph), but I will post a few things. Here I was trying to unwind from the 5.5-hour plane trip from Chicago. I had checked my Rapidoliner and Rotring Rapidograph in my suitcase, but when I took them out, found that the Rapidoliner had leaked badly into its plastic bag. Eventually I had to discard it. I’ve heard the warnings about technical and fountain pens leaking on airplanes, but for some reason thought that only applied to pens brought into the cabin of the plane. Duh! I’m sure it applies even more so to pens in checked bags, where there’s probably no attempt to regulate air pressure. The Rapidograph leaked a little bit but was and is basically fine.

I don’t think I’ve ever returned two pairs of shoes before finding the right one. I bought, sketched, and returned two out of the three pairs of shoes in this post.