Drawing, Roses by the Side of the Bed

Here are complete directions for doing a drawing of this type. Take a nice heavy weight piece of drawing paper and soak it in water till it expands, then, before it starts to dry out staple it around the edges to a piece of wood. Once it is dry give it a good two or three coats of gesso, and while the last coat is drying go for a walk in the woods and look for tin cans that are all rusted. Do not neglect this step or you won’t be able to put in the high-lights later when you are finishing the drawing. When you get back from the woods take the rusty tin cans, put them in a canvas bag and beat it with a hammer. Open the bag, throw away the cans, but save all the little rusty bits of metal that are in the bag like dust. Sprinkle the rusty metal bits on to the paper, which should be dry by now. Take a heavy metal roller, (a rolling pin will do however) and press these metal chips into the paper so they get embossed into the paper surface. After that brush the dust off the paper and throw it away, and rub the paper surface with a rag. The excess rust will color the paper a beautiful golden yellow color, just like pastel does.

Now it is time to draw, take a red or maroon wax pencil that goes well with the yellow of the paper, try and think of some good idea, and when you have one draw it onto the paper as good as you can. When you are done with that it is time to put in the highlights. Take a razor blade and where ever you want highlights scratch through the yellow iron oxide tint of the paper down to the white gesso underneath. This will give you the most wonderful precise little highlights, but don’t over do it, too many highlights ruin many a drawing.
And what is this drawing about, after all that? Is it about lost love like yesterday’s drawing? Is it about romance? Or is it about interior decoration? I can’t say right now maybe we’ll talk about it tomorrow.