"Last Sketch for the Year 2016"...

Full speed ahead...

And finally, my last sketch for the year 2016. I received a lot of cool input from some friends about what to draw, but I decided that I'm not proficient enough on Procreate on my iPad Pro to pull some of them off. So, here's my effort!

Happy New Year, y'all!

Copyright 2017/Ben Bensen III

"iPad Sketching Between Cups of Coffee"...

An iPad Pro sketch in Procreate

While awaiting for my Honda to be serviced, I asked to be driven to a favorite neighborhood restaurant. It was closed, so I walked over to a local coffee house called, "Not Just Donuts."

 https://www.facebook.com/notjustdonuts/

Oh, brother! I think I would have preferred just donuts.

The topics of discussion went from fishing for reds and specks, to water hyacinths taking over the waterways, from accessorizing your 4 wheel-drive trucks, to the finer points and tactics of paintball. So, I decided to sketch a few of the patrons on my iPad and man, I've totally forgotten how to use it!

I will say one thing about "Not Just Donuts"...they have excellent apple fritters here!

Lost count of the cups... Ha!

"I Rarely Give My Art Away..."

Good late morning, Friday, y'all.

I started playing with my new iPad Pro about a month ago attempting to learn its idiosyncratic ways. I was just messing with the line quality and posted my "progress." A friend saw it and asked me if I wanted to send her two for a project she was working on.

So I did, although I spent an equal amount of time on my wacom and Photoshop. That iPad "touchy feely" thing is not something I appreciate.

Anyway, I created a few more, signed two and sent them to Kathleen for her project. Anyone who knows me knows that I rarely participate in charitable events giving my art away. Apparently, some artists are contributing their drawings to Slidell Memorial Hospital Cancer Center so that patients will have a coloring book of drawings by local artists to help pass the time while they are undergoing treatment.

Having spent five weeks laid up "rehabilitating" my back, I can only imagine what a cancer kid's thoughts are. It's a feel good thing all around!

Glad to have been a part... Third cup!

P.S. Would kinda like to see what the kids come up with!

Copyright 2016/ Ben Bensen III

"Upon Further Review"...

Little League... We're talking Little League?

Well, Good "Humpty Dump"Wednes....

Wait, Wait... Are we sure today is Wednesday? We better call upstairs for a review. We certainly don't wanna make the wrong call!

I-I-I-I-I can't believe it! I can't!

Yesterday, watching the Baltimore Orioles play the Washington Nationals, Buck Showalter stopped the game, not once, not twice, but three times to get a review on the umpire's call. And, you know what that means?

More damn commercials... commercials that i've seen a hundred times or more.

Baseball pundits constantly whine about the length of the games which sometimes goes over three hours. How can we make the one game that has no clock faster? You talk about killing the rhythm of the sport. Well man, you sure found a way to do it.

The only thing that shoots a hole in my rant is that Bucky won all three of the challenges. Of course, baseball being so stat happy, the commentators were giddy over the apparent new statistic.

"This is the first time, I am told, that we've ever had three calls reversed successfully in one game!"

Oh bruther! 

But wait! I turned on to a Little League game on ESPN in between commercials and guess what I saw? Replays reviewing a play at first base. The Litttle League coach at first base signalled to the ump for a closer look... 

I mean, LITTLE LEAGUE! And guess what else happened? After almost two minutes, the call was reversed!

First cup... I need DECAF!

And oh, by the way, upon further review, today is Wednesday!

Copyright 2016/ Ben Bensen III

"He Refused To Leave Until She Mentioned A Treat!"

Pierre as a pup...

Well, good Monday morning, everybody!

It seems to always happen when we return from a long trip. Cute little furry creatures appear in the night. We know because they like to leave their calling card.

Last night, from a deep, doggy sleep, our cocker spaniel, Pierre, sat up very attentively. For a minute or two he sat up with ears perked and his familiar "death stare." He didn't move.

Then, he hopped down unto the floor and went sniffing all around the sofa. He then turned his attention to the TV console with his stubby, little tail spinning high revs enough to lift his tush up off the ground.

This went on for an inning or two, as I was watching a baseball game, until he decided that whatever it was he was gonna wait it out. It didn't take long for me to realize we had a mouse in the house.

Pierre sat in a position on the floor that he never sits in with his butt towards me and his nose pointed to the corner of the room between the console and the sofa. It was as if he was pointing to me the direction of the prey intimating that he was a pointer and not a hunter.

This went on till midnight when Therese decided to entice Pierre into our bedroom with a treat in order for me to set a few traps and get some shuteye. He just refused to leave...

Until she mentioned, a TREAT!

This morning, before our dog could beat me to the door, I found the culprit between the teeth of the old fashion, but deadly device.

Picking up the other two traps and disarming them, I announced to the our intrepid pointer that the coast was clear.

"Okay Pierre, come get some breakfast!"

Copyright 2016/ Ben Bensen III

"I Asked If She Could Pose For Me..."

Sketches from a three hour flight to LAX...

Some in-flight sketches on the way to Los Angeles.   I love flying especially at the window seat, but when the person sitting next to you buries their head into a large book, it is time for me to shut up pull out the pen and sketchbook.

I'm a visual person... I can take a hint, ha!

I never did capture, to my liking, the exotic face of our stewardess. I eventually asked her if she could pose for me because she never stopped. Of course, she could not! The other stewardess I captured pretty well. She stood still for about five minutes talking in the first class kitchen.

The pic of a woman pulling at her hair was from an in-flight movie starring an aged Sally Field, and the woman with the rather large chapeaux was from an in-flight magazine.

Copyright 2016/ Ben Bensen III

"Swattin' Flies!"

Only at Gus's...

About a week ago, Jenn, one of the local curmudgeons sat down at our table at Gus's Restaurant in Folsom, LA. "Our table" is one of three long twelve foot table that seats comfortably, about ten patrons. That table serves the earlier morning cowboys, plowboys, and handymen that come to eat before attending to their respective jobs. They leave normally around eight in the morning and then, our group comes in to take over, order and eat breakfast and generally talk about old New Orleans, politics, ( how Obama is ruining the country ), horses, growing vegetables and surviving retirement!

Jenn is originally from the Netherlands and can tell you some stories about the Nazi's siege on Rotterdam. When I sit alone with her, she opens up about her younger days in Europe and here in the United States. I always enjoy our, one way, conversations.

**She shows up two or three times a morning for basically a cup of coffee. I've rarely seen her eat anything for breakfast and when someone offers to buy her a muffin or two, she says that she's already eaten earlier that morning. But when she arrives at our table, all conversation stops, and if she asks you a question, you have to yell to allow her to hear your answer. Next thing you know, everyone there eating breakfast is in on the conversation.

And if she is pissed, many an ear will be bruised, young and old alike!

"That sorry ass bastard refuses to buy a paper!"That's one cheap sonofabitch, I tell you!

Right away, we know who she is talking about! Paula, who is another consummate horse person sitting across from me, smiles. Her husband, Larry, feigns deafness and says to Jenn, "Eh?"

Naturally, she turns to Larry and repeats her comment almost word for word. Then, looks at Tracy and says..."You know what that "effin mutherfu&@??cker" did to me this morning?"

"No Jenn, what happened?" we all asked, trying not to egg on her "filthy interpretation of the owner."

"I'm reading the newspaper, that effin over priced piece of shit" that I paid for, looking at the race results and he comes over to me with that damn flyswatter!"

"Swatting flies!" she says with all the venom she could muster!.

Gus's restaurant is the only place I know that, in the summer, the owner blatantly comes out in his apron and takes out a half dozen or so.

But Gus and Jenn go way back to the beginning of the restaurant, and he always takes good care of her needs. Everyone at Gus's that knows her, looks out for her. She has to be pushing eighty and is the penultimate horse lady. Everything she does is for the horses she tends to.

"Jenn ain't got a pot to piss in," I once heard someone say. Still, Gus likes to give her a hard time.

"I told him, "Get 'da fu&@?ck out of my face with that thing!"

"I know... I know what that mutherfu&@??cker is trying to tell me!"

"Dem flies ain't nowhere to be found, till that sonofabitch comes around.

"Sonofabitch," she mubbles as she gets up from the table to pour herself another cup!

"No good, son-of-a-bitch!"

Copyright 2016/ Ben Bensen III

** More about Jenn at: http://graphicgumbo3.blogspot.com/2011/04/until-now.html

Scotty Sproles, Scott Sproles, Scott "Shadow" Sproles... I Remember Now!

Charting Our Coarse...mentally!

The other day I noticed a name in Linkedin that sure sounded familiar. It's funny how the brain works... Or doesn't!

So, I followed up on this Scott Sproles's profile and found him as someone I should know from Barksdale, AFB in Shreveport, Louisiana. But, I still couldn't place him until I copied his email address and opened up to him as the idiot who could not figure out our relationship... even when I knew our contact was with the B-52 at Barksdale. In the email, I sent him a photo of the work I completed at the end of our tour and congratulated him on his recent promotion. I don't believe he ever saw the original painting.

Quite a few years back, six illustrators from around the country were sent to the airbase for a week tour learning about the aging B-52's role in the new command entitled, The Global Strike Force Command. It was to be replacing the Strategic Air Command (SAC) and it's headquarters were, at that time, in Barksdale. Me and two other illustrators from the Air Force Art Program were trained to fly with a crew of five on a five hour flight for a mock up bombing run and refueling mission.

http://graphicgumbo3.blogspot.com/2010/09/global-strike-command-final-finally.html

Scott returned my congratulatory email stating,"We indeed met through the Air Force Art Program at Barksdale and we took you and another artist on a B-52 flight across Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, and Louisiana. It was a night flight and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know you all and sharing our experiences with ambassadors such as yourself."

But, it wasn't until I ran across a blog that mentioned the names of the crew and there code names that everything fell neatly into place. Scotty Sproles's code name was, I suspect, for this flight, called "Shadow." Every one had a secret code name, even we three artists on the flight, but I don't believe we ever given an explanation for Scott's secret moniker.

Anyway, I searched through my sketchbooks to see if I could retrieve any drawings I knew I had done of him and the rest of the crew. I actually found two incomplete pieces. So, I decided to finish the two that were worth saving. One was from a meeting about our mission and the flight plans, and one from an underexposed photo a fellow artist took of Scotty in his "inner sanctum."

Here's the completed second sketch...

Although I sent other members of the crew, sketches from the mission, and because I never finished these of Scott, I never sent them to him.

So, Scott consider these pieces a keepsake of sorts and my way of saying, "Congrats!"...

... and thank you for your service!

Copyright 2016/ Ben Bensen III

"Keeping It Simple Sketch"

The quick sketch for approval...

The final sketch...

A rough and finish sketch ready for coloring for a presentation to an aircraft brokerage firm. The client, a middleman entrepreneur, thought I could do this three inch by three inch inset and still capture the owner's face. This was a solution we agreed to when I told him he could not afford for me to animate this illustration to fly around the website and in the Power Point presentation.

He didn't understand why it couldn't be accomplished until I told him the cost of producing it...

Clients!

Copyright2016/Ben Bensen III

"Sketches From A Doctor's Appointment... No. 1"

Grumpy?

I must admit, I don't like the tons of forms one has to fill out every time one has to see a new doctor. Four or five patients waiting their turn to see the dermatologist could hear my grumbling and see the aggravation written all over my face. I just don't see any reason to have to fill out six full sheets with every one of them requiring one's name, address, cell phone, home phone, email address and your waist size!

Okay, just kiddin' bout one's waist size!

A rather composed lady mentioned being able to fill the forms out online. ( I've always had problems filling out forms online, especially after completing the form, having to find a way to sign and date it, long hand! ) Being five minutes late, I expected to wait my turn patiently, but 25 minutes later, I figured I'd better make the best use of my time, so I started sketching, as incognito as possible, the other patient patients. Everyone was messing with their iPhones and I, with my "At A Glance" pad.

One, rather severe looking woman with closely cropped hair and a blouse that didn't do much for her state of being, was, like me, bitching about all the forms she had to fill out. I thought to myself, do I look that bad whenever I'm complaining about something?

Whoa...

She then blurts out, "I hate all this politically correct crap... African Americans and Hispanics!"
"Orientals too," she grumps. "I'm sick and tired of this crap" Whites are the last race on this list!"

"Alphabetical order", is all the composed lady that mentioned to me about the online forms, said.

"It is put in alphabetical order, ma'am."

"Hrump!" is all that the woman could muster, but with a "looks could kill" stare.

When it was my turn to see the doctor, I entered the room and put down my "iPad". When I did, the nurse saw the drawing of this rather racist woman and asked if I was an artist.

When I answered in the affirmative, the nurse said,"Man, you really captured her perfectly!"

And my response was, "I'm just glad that she didn't asked to see it!"

Copyright 2016/Ben Bensen III

"She Did Have That Marie LaVeau Look About Herself!"

Voodoo priestess?

"Ooooo- wee, child, is 'dat your Evangeline?"

"Yes ma'am," I replied as I turned my head around to see who was complimenting me in such a thick Cajun accent.

All week long, tour buses would bring people to view the downtown St. Martinville scene. Folks from Ohio, Minnesota, Texas, Illinois, mostly folks trying to thaw out from up north. And, naturally, quite a few from France to check the Creole and Cajun historical sight.

But this woman, with a long full colorful skirt, complete with jangling jewelry and a leopard print headband, looked straight out of central casting for a voodoo queen, or priestess.

"You did 'dat?" You doing my lady, fine, fine... Ooooo-wee! Lordy, lordy!"

"Well thanks, ma'am... it's starting to come around," I said.

"Where you fum?" she asked. 

"Originally, I am from New Orleans, but I live now in a small town called Folsom."

"Ooooo, Lord." New Orleans is bad!" 

"Not the good bad. I'm talkin' bout the bad bad," she said nodding her head down as if to be praying for all New Orleanians.

"Too much killing down 'dere, child... too much!"

“’Dats why you moved?”

“Aw, New Orleans is not that bad. You just have to have some common sense, ya know?”

“I live in Folsom for many different reasons,” I replied.

“Well, she said, clutching a little tighter her huge satchel like purse and slowly moving toward the front of the church,”I gotsta go visit ‘da Lord!”

After a few steps, she then turns back around to tell me her name and to ask me for mine. Her name is Aida, and says, proudly that she’s from St. Martinsville and has lived there all her life. We banter back and forth for a few minutes about saving the world with prayer, living in St. Martinsville all her life, and my living in California. As she kinda threw her head back separating her dark dreadlocks, which were rather dark for being well into her sixties, she talked a bit about her being black, but Creole.

“Hey, I understand where ya comin’ from, lady. I spent a couple years here in Cajun land. It’s a beautiful thing!”

Even if I thought differently, I wasn’t gonna take no chances. She did have a Marie LaVeau look about herself. Best to not mess with no voodoo, ya know?

“I come everyday to pray and visit my Evangeline… she’s a saint, Mister Ben. Did you know?”

“Well, no ma’am, I didn’t know that, but the story is a very special one, I know!”

“You fum where?” Where you be staying?

“Folsom, LA”, Aida, I repeated quite impatiently. 

“Dat’s a long ways to be painting my Evangeline!” she once again, replies.

“You doing her good.” she, grammatically, but hilariously, announced.

Pointing to the sign that officially advertises my involvement as one of the thirty or so artists at the Shadows, I say, “I’m participating in a contest at the Shadows-On-The-Teche museum in New Iberia.”

“NEW IBERIA?” 

“Lord, lord”, I better git,” she moans, jingling all the shiny silver, plastic and assorted bracelets around her wrists…” I best be praying for you too,” she said.

Thinking to myself how awfully nice it was of her to pray for my good luck, she mumbles as she turns away flailing her arms, 

“Ooooo- weeee, New Iberia!”

“Dat’s no place to be, child. Another dangerous place, fo’ sho!”

"Gator Got Yo' Granny" ...

"Chomp, chomp... Gator sketch by Ben Bensen III

Good "Gator Got Yo' Granny" Saturday, y'all.

I arrived early at Fontainebleau State Park yesterday, for a change, and decided to scope out an interesting bayou scene to paint. Mary Monk, Carol Hallock and Laura Fischer Saxon were to join me on a rather wind swept afternoon at the lake.

I found this trail through the reeds paralelling the lake that lead me to an interesting little cove protected from the wind and perfect for a plein air extravaganza. As approached closer to the waterline, a blue heron gracefully headed for the skies. A few steps closer and then there was this big explosion of water and reeds. Apparently, I had startled this five or six foot gator that was no more than a "first and ten" away. 

I didn't take the time to see if it was gonna chase me, but I did freeze momentarily enough to see "what big teeth Grandma had."

I didn't look back until I was back on the sandy beach. I found me a park ranger to explain to him the size of that dinosaur as he nonchalantly explained why the reptiles were not hibernating. I was huffing and puffing so I didn't completely hear him say something about the spillway opening up fresh water into the lake...

"Yeh, I said between adrenalin gasps of air, "that makes sense, but I thought it was still too cold for them to be out and about!"

"Nah," he said. They're as confused with this weather as much as we are!"

"Oh okay, I guess so," I replied.

As I walked away down the sandy beach, I turned back toward the reeds and thought to myself, "yeh, but what'cha gonna do about that monster back there sitting in that cove!"

First cup of "glad to be alive" coffee!

Copyright 2016/ Ben Bensen III

"Ah Yes, Pierre's Playmates Are Back!"

A quickie sketch...

So nice to have our dog's friends back so they can keep him entertained and out from under my feet.
That lizard kept Pierre transfixed long enough for me to sketch him... the rest was just to fill in the blanks!

                                                           Copyright 2016/ Ben Bensen III

"Just Wondering About Garbage"...

Missing opportunities...

Good early morning blues and grays, y'all on a Monday morning!

We, here in 'da Bayou, are gonna get wet for a few days.That old matchbox hole has me thinking about garbage. Not just any garbage, but that kind of reusable stuff that we all throw out instead of recycling.

Therese started recycling when I was away on location for the summer and it is amazing how little garbage we have to leave out for the garbage men. There's a huge recycling bin in Mandeville where you can discard plastics, styrofoam, tin, aluminum, glass and paper, but, as of yet, no cardboard (I don't know why not!).

We'd throwout food stuffs into our compost pile if our dog wouldn't be in a race with the raccoons to get to the "leftovers" first. It is truly amazing how little garbage we give for pickup on garbage day.

I wonder if our "waste management" company would give us a discount for only picking up our garbage once instead of twice a week?

First cup...

Copyright 2016/ Ben Bensen III

"Tuggin' At My Heartstrings!"

"Oh the stories it could tell...

I thought about bringing it and I thought, long and hard, about leaving it home, but I really wanted to practice enough to play some songs with friends at a Christmas party. It was gonna be a long stay in LA, and I wanted to use the down time to practice and to try to work out the stiffness in my left hand, which seems to be getting worse with each passing year.

Well, I didn't want to buy an extra seat for the instrument and I didn't think it could possibly fit in the overhead compartment on the plane. ( I later found out that would have been the best place for it! ) With a good bit of trepidation, I sent my baby with the rest of my baggage in the baggage compart-ment of the aircraft. I mean what could possibly go wrong. It was insured. Christmas travel is so crazy, I just knew this was the best I could do, short of leaving it home.

I bought the Guild D-55, in California, way back in 1979 just before our son was born. Originally, I wanted to purchase a Gibson Hummingbird, but I really could afford it. The Guild actually sounded as good as, if not better than the Gibson... at least, to my untrained ear.

Well, my flight to LA went fine. I was looking forward to visiting a lot of friends and enjoying the wonderful Christmas weather there. Standing at the turnstile with my carry-ons strapped across my shoulders, I patiently waited, like everyone else, for the bags to start down the conveyor belt and on to the rotating turnstile.

Twenty minutes later, and with each passing minute, my heart sank just a little bit more. I started to chastise myself for being so naive. Christmas was certainly gonna be horrible, no matter how good it will be, if I lose my baby. What was I thinking?

With a resolute and heavy sigh as the conveyor belt came to a halt, I wandered over to the baggage claim department to see if they had any knowledge of my six string companion.

"Miss, I seemed to have lost my guitar." It never came down to the turnstile!" I said.

"Sir, is that guitar over there in the corner, yours?"she said with a "I'm glad to be a service to you" smile!

"Oh man! That's the one! That's mine!"I said as appreciatively as I could.

"You've made my holiday", I said.

"Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays," she said with a nod...

"And a Merry Christmas to you, m'am!"

Copyright 2016/ Ben Bensen III

"Another Sketch From The Air Museum"...

The other unfinished Paso Robles sketch...

Here's the second of two quick sketches that I started about ten minutes before Tee, me and our hosts, Ed and Irene Rush, decided to leave to get some lunch in downtown Paso Robles. I did have time to, at the Estrella Warbirds Museum, capture fairly well an F-86, a T-33 and the tail section of an F-104.

After lunch, we decided to visit an artist in residence kinda co-op called, "The Studio On The Park" which is located across the City Park square in downtown. I had a few great conversations with some of the artists. Anne Laddon, who created the concept of the studio, was very congenial, as was her studio mate, Tamara Thornton. They both share a studio together and I found, through asking many questions, that both ladies came from an advertising background and had to deal with the idea of eventually being put out to pasture.

They seemed to have made the change into a fine art arena quite successfully having felt that they had accomplished all they had expected to accomplish as ad women. Nice place to be.

Anne's site is: http://www.anneladdon.com/artwork/ and Tamara's is: http://www.studiosonthepark.org/artists/artist-directory.php?artist_id=96

Copyright 2016/ Ben Bensen III

"Hello, Is There Anybody There?"

Hello... is there anybody there?

Just sittin' here a thinkin' bout that old matchbox and wondrin' why it takes so long to accept incompetence.

Since my mother passed away almost one year ago, I've been wrestling with closing out mom's account. It's taken six months or more to jump through the many hoops the government and the bank were putting before me...

It's a joke to know that the bank didn't know whether they even performed this task anymore. I waited politely and patiently and then decided to passed the time away sketching. The paper of choice was the envelope that my mother's statements came in. The sketch/doodle took about ten minutes or so, but the transaction took over one hour, and it still wasn't done correctly...

While sitting in traffic, after depositing the check, the bank calls me and tells me NOT to deposit the check...

IT WILL BOUNCE!

Hello, is anybody there!

First cup...

"Maybe, There's A Lesson To Be Learned Here"...

A quick sketch...

Good Monday "MLK" morning, y'all...

Staring out of my matchbox hole, this morning, thinking 'bout who knows what, when two chickadees landed on the birdbath for a drink. Problem was the birdbath was pretty much frozen over.

Five minutes later, a blue jay hopped unto the "frozen tundra" and gave the ice two good whacks with its bill, and got to the water underneath the ice. A few more minutes passed when that chickadee couple came by for a sip or two.

There's a lesson to be learned here... I just have to figure out which one to stuff in my pocket for the rest of the "MLK celebration".

Second sip... I mean, cup!

Copyright 2016/ Ben Bensen III

"How To Make The Best Use Of Your Time... No.3."

"Round and Curved"

Here's the second of two sketches I drew from a photo on the return flight from Los Angeles to New Orleans. I'm one of those passengers that love staring out of the window to the busy world down below, but when my view is obscured or the sun finally gives up the day and turns it over to the night, I quickly look for something to do besides sleeping.

As an artist on an airplane, one quickly tires of drawing the backs of people's heads, so I drew this bright and colorful photo that I snapped from a fruit stand in Madisonville, LA. I did quite a bit of editing and included only enough to tell the story.

The first of these two sketches is seen on the previous blog page at: how-to-make-best-use-of-your-time-no-2.

For those that care about technique, with these type of sketches, I just usually put a point down with my Razor Point Sharpie and track all the forms from that point. I make a few miscalculations from one line to another, but it is all just to help me see form and page relationships. There are lots of different ways to incorporate a style into one's visual, but this approach can be time consuming and exhausting, but it is just a great way to concentrate on visualization... for me.

And, it is the best use my time.

Copyright 2015/ Ben Bensen III

"How To Make The Best Use Of Your Time... No.3."

"How To Make The Best Use Of Your Time... No. 2."

My inflight sketch...

This is a sketch I drew from a picture I have of a female F-35 pilot from the 330th Fighter Wing. Don't quote me on those details. I assume because the canopy opens from the front that it is an F-35 and the shoulder patch reads vaguely, the 330th.

It is not so much the technical that intrigued me to save this photo and to actually use it to draw from en route from Los Angeles to New Orleans. It is the femininity of the picture that I think is so beautiful...

Okay, in a strange way!

On first look, it seems as though she is fixing her hair in a mirror making last minute adjustments before a date. But, the hard cold reality of being a pilot in an advance multi-role aircraft says something totally different. The juxtaposition of these two factors is truly mind blowing. Whether you are for complete opportunities for women or not, this visual was something I new I'd eventually have to address.

Clearly, she is in a "man's world,"but almost everything about her in the sketch from a picture says, "Women."

I did one other sketch that night when all the refreshments were completed and the moon replaced the sun and the cabin lights were down for a rest. I'll post that one, which is completely different, later this week.

Copyright 2015/Ben Bensen III