I must admit, when I walk into an Office Depot or down the office supply aisle in Target, my heart beats a bit faster. I have a tiny addiction to everything paper, pen, pencils, etc. etc. Recently, I've tried to practice the "use what you have" rule.  So, when I came upon these Ink Joy pens from PaperMate for about $3.70, it was with a bit of shame I tossed them into my cart. But I am shameful no more! These pens are wonderful. Their inks are bright like dyes. They layer beautifully. The ink floats on the paper and they are worth every penny. My favorite color is the brown that comes in the 12 pack with caps. They are aptly named.  Go ahead. Buy a pack. You know you want to.

   Here I am, at our last meeting, sharing with Siri clay models of characters I created in Sculpey clay.  This is the first time I've used clay to help with character development.  In the foreground you'll see the two models I created for a manuscript I'm writing.  For this story,  I had two issues I needed help with.  The first was how to light the rat in the different settings throughout the book and second, I needed to see how he would carry the ice skater ornament around with him. Having the models has helped tremendously. Seeing the ornament laying on the ground, carried on the rats back or propped against a wall in 3D, makes my 2D drawings of their  movements  more consistent throughout.  I really like the size relationship of the two characters as well.  Next I'll be lighting them and sketching in different settings.   I'm definitely going to be using this technique in the future.