Makiko Itoh : Not a nameless cat.

I am fairly happy with this one, especially the red. Took about eight hours total!

I am still drawing...but I haven't been able to keep up the daily picture goal. There are a couple of reasons for this; first, I've just not had the time, or given it the time, on days when I've been swamped with work and other matter.

Bananas (no. 9): colored pencil

Past their prime though still tasty. The spots seemed to increase as I was drawing.

Red Knitting (no. 8): colored pencil

I am knitting a bright red mohair scarf. Hopefully I'll finish it before winter, such as it is, ends.

I have come to the conclusion that I can't use the scanner for scanning these drawings. It's fine for photographs but seems to choke on artwork. So, I'm going to have to photograph the picture the next day (since I am usually drawing in the evening, after the day's work is done.)

Square paper clip: graphite

I am much more comfortable in black and white than in color. I need to make a color chart of the pencils I have. The only drawback of graphite is that it gets all over the hands.

Woman in Red: colored pencil (Faber-Castell ColorGrip 2001)

This lady really stood out in the crowds of people doing their Saturday shopping in Zürich yesterday. In a town where most people wear blacks, greys and browns in the winter, she was wearing a bright red coat with a bright red hat. She wasn't that young or pretty, but she definitely drew stares - and smiles.

There are more things around here in the sketch but I left them out and just left in the grey color around her.

Cell phone (no. 5): gel pen

To loosen up after yesterday's broccoli, which took about 2 hours, and because I was busy today, I just decided to do a doodle-like sketch of my cell phone, an object I can't do without but which I sometimes dread, like my computers. Done with a 3-color gel pen (red, blue, black) in about 10 minutes.

Broccoli (4b): Colored pencil (various

The actual broccoli from yesterday. Photographed with a Nikon D70 using a tripod and natural daylight. The paper is pale ivory, which is what may have thrown off the scanner.

Broccoli sketch (4a): pencil

I did actually do a color version of the broccoli, but the scanner totally failed to pick up the greens, turning it into a blob of yellow with green bits. I may try to photograph it in the morning when I have more light. For now this is just the preliminary pencil sketch.

Gala Apple: Colored pencil (Faber-Castell Polychromos).

A Gala apple is a medium red with a yellow-green-orange undertone, and quite streaky. Getting that streakiness is rather difficult.

The apple also looks rather lanky.

I haven't really done much with colored pencils before and so far it's a rather frustrating tool But I think I will stick with it for at least a month.