This is an 8" x 10" pencil sketch I did in 1976. Time and UV light have not been kind, and the paper is yellowed considerably. This scanned image represents both the positive and negative aspects of digitizing artwork. The good news is that I could use Photoshop to undo the aged tint; the bad news is that some of the subtle fleshtones were lost. However the restoration is a reasonable approximation of the original.

One of the interesting things about this sketch is that I used a simple set of 12 colored pencils. I still have the set, in fact. (The brown pencil is shorter than the others because I used so much brown in this drawing.) Someone asked me how it was possible that I still had the set of pencils. I responded that I tend to save things. "No, no," she corrected, "how is it that they haven't been used up long ago?" Well, I got married and had kids -- and didn't do much in the way of drawing and writing for a long period of time. My kids are in college now, and my new life as a single woman reawakens the creative spirit of my youth. I recently purchased something I've wanted for decades -- a 120-pencil Prismacolor set.

I once thought that I would be doing most of my color work with my computer and Photoshop, but sometimes Photoshop feels like a lot of work, and sketching in pencil is rather relaxing. The challenge now is to find the time to work on creative projects.