It was a warm day in Cambridge, Mass. in March 1987, warm enough so that I could go outside and draw. I was using water-based markers this time. They had a lot of bright colors so I chose something that was colorful: a Sunoco gas station. I could use these basic-color markers on the cheerful hues of orange and blue. I put the drawing in the same book that three years earlier I had filled with drawings of houses, gardens and flowers, street trees, and my neighbors. Most of this sketchbook is still blank, but I hesitate to bring a precious old sketchbook outside into the dangers of the city.
These markers had chunky chisel tips and so were not so good for drawing fine lines. You had to use a corner to get any line at all. I had some fine line markers too. I was not satisfied with the lack of precision of these markers and after a few more drawings, retired them from outdoor sketching and used them for temporary signage at restaurants, or roughs for future work. I don't think they're being made any more.
It's outdoor drawing season again and perhaps I should draw romantically portrayed gas stations, something that might bore my readers even more than abstractions from steel mills or Starbucks coffee cups. It all depends on my getting a place to sit and draw where I will not be run over by a car.
Stabilayout watercolor markers on sketchbook page, 9" x 5 1/2", March 24, 1987.
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