Phanatic and friend...

This young lady did me a big favor this past weekend...she's my daughter's college roommate, and she graciously allowed me to use her bed during her absence so I wouldn't have to drive quite a distance home after my late-night gig there. She's also in the same public speaking class as my daughter, so I thought a nice 'thank you' would be a drawing of her with her favorite team's mascot! (Her speech is this week--on mascots!)

The Phillies are certainly off to a good start this season. Drawing the Phanatic is still a cinch! (Some years back, I spent four baseball seasons drawing fans at Citizens Bank Park, so I ought to know how to draw baseball's best mascot!)

And in a slight difference from my norm, I used a Markette marker instead of my beloved Copic Sketch. I have actually used many different makers over the years before settling on the Copic as my favorite, starting with Sharpies and going on to calligraphy markers, Chartpaks, 229LFs, Prismacolors, and the aforementioned Markette. They ARE a nice marker, but the drawbacks are many. They are hard to find, the points break off easily and they dry out and cannot be refilled...but I still have many of my old ones! (I'm an art hoarder, I'll admit it! I guess I am hoping they'll spontaneously regenerate a new ink supply;-) On a whim today, I pulled one out and it was still juicy, so I used it to draw Nicole. It definitely has a more delicate line than my Copics...but I like the long-term advantages of my Copics much better.