My wife and I occasionally babysit three small children. They come from a sad situation and can be sometimes difficult to handle. My wife does very well with them.

The oldest (about 3) is a drama queen. The next (around 2) is amazingly, alarmingly, devious and cunning. Maybe devious is too strong of a word, but I never would have thought a child that young could ever be capable of some of her shenanigans.

Anyway, one recent Sunday we had them all day. Took them to church. What a disaster that was. I thought it was anyway, Jewel didn’t.

I was playing with them that afternoon, and the oldest and I sat down at a VERY small table with paper and pens to draw. It is with considerable pride that I give you the fruits of my labors.

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Notice all the livestock in this piece. I usually don’t enter a work with preconceived ideas of themes or messages to explore. I’m not sure what brought this out, I usually prefer meat-bearing livestock.

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Of particular note here I think, is the incredibly accurate dimensions and proportions evident in this piece. It was all done freehand with no assistance from a mechanical device, such as straightedge or measuring instrument.

Notice how I display my artistic ambidexterity by flaunting my mastery of multiple genres. B&W as well as color are in my stable of tricks.

I was bragging about these to a friend, and then showed them off. Pseudo-friend agreed, they weren’t bad. Then one thing or another clarified the situation for them, and they said “Oh! You just drew these! I thought you must have done it as a child. That’s not nearly so impressive!”

With friends like that, my goodness!