The link on Jane's
Yarnstorm blog to
this site prompted me to take down my own collection of pencils and crayons from the shelf and go back to some pencil and ink drawings I did a few weeks ago. I've particularly enjoyed using
these watersoluble wax crayons, all the satisfaction of a primary school crayon but they blend together beautifully when you use a brush, like watercolour pencils. They come in 84 different shades but I've found the small pack of 10 does plenty.
I've always found it odd that dog breeds go in and out of fashion, and it's sad that one sees so few fox terriers, especially the smooth-coated ones - like the one Helena Bonham-Carter carried around in the startling play about Enid Blyton on BBC4 this week. They're very much dogs of the 1920s to 1950s as are Scotties, Cocker Spaniels, Cairns and Pugs which one occasionally encounters but when did you last see a
Sealyham outside of a show ring, yet so often portrayed by Cecil Aldin and Lucy Dawson.
I would have thought we might see a revival in all these breeds with the current passion for shabby chic and vintage - Cath Kidson leads the trend with Stanley. At present, depending on where you live you're much more likely to see Labradors and Jack Russell's (in the country) or Staffordshire Bull terriers and the various tough crossbreds in the innercities.
We can't have a dog at present, so I'm thinking of making some of my own from
this little book! They'll certainly take less walking.
