pastels

Today on a whim I decided to draw with pastels for a couple hours. I haven't done any pastel drawing for a long time. I thought I would try sandpaper so I walked over to the hardware store and bought five sheets of 320 grit sandpaper. Here are the results:






Not so bad, and I'm sure I will improve if I keep doing them.
Unfortunately, I do like to smear and blend pastels using my fingers. This is a problem when working on sandpaper- right now my left pointer finger is unnervingly transparent.

hanami

It's palo verde blossom season here in Tucson, and everywhere trees are erupting in brilliant yellow. It seems to me that this occasion should be celebrated, as the cherry blossoms are celebrated in Japan. But no picnickers spread out beneath the golden trees, and no one strolls through the parks admiring their beauty. In fact this would be quite impossible, as the city of Tucson prefers to plant palm and olive trees in parks. Instead, the palo verdes line road medians, parking lots, and yards. People seem to go about their business oblivious to the beautiful trees, their perfume, and the carpet of yellow petals on the ground.