"Measure Twice, Cut Once"

Day 189: Inspired by a friend's artistic endeavours, I decided to give sketching another go. As I may have mentioned, the House of Chirp has new tenants. They've been moving furniture in for the last week or so, and as all of us who have moved around a lot know, sometimes the couch won't fit through the door without some serious finagling. We don't take the couch back to the store; that would be silly. We fiddle with standing it on end, turning it around the other way, maybe even taking the legs off until we can maneuver it into the house. Nor are Tree Swallows likely to discard their selection, and if a twig or feather won't fit through the hole, they try this angle and that until it goes in. Now it must be said that I had intended to make this drawing more cartoonish to suit the caption, "Measure twice, cut once...right," but as I was standing at the kitchen window with the sketchbook held up in one hand and my pencil in the other, watching the antics of the new renters, the drawing took on a style independent of what I had in mind. Once the details had resolved themselves, I sat at the kitchen table to ink and colour it. A second effort made later in the day, drawn entirely from my imagination, did not work out as well. I will not make any claims of artistic talent, but at least my ability to draw a recognizable object is improving.