Egg sketch #6

9/28: Egg sketch #6, oil on canvas panel, approx. 3x5 in.

This one went beyond 20 minutes - at some point I had to wipe out the inside of the egg to rethink it, as I didn't know where I was going. All I cared about showing was the shadow falling on the egg. I haven't really been racing against myself with these sketches, but just trying to get down something convincing in a short amount of time. Using color mixes that are sitting on the palette already (which is what I did for the most part) is sort of like coloring with a few shabby crayons picked out of some other kid's bucket when you're used to having all of yours lined up in the box, in a complete set all nice and clean. The process is a little different but you can do the same work - maybe sometimes better, almost as if you're trying to show this kid what you're capable of under the circumstances. This other kid, of course, is you....

Old English word of the day:

ǽg [ī]: egg.

Very close to its modern German relative. It is interesting to me that the O.E. "egg" sounded more like our modern "eye," and vice versa (eye=éage). Curiously in this case the Old Norse spelling/pronunciation would take hold in Britain, what with all the Vikings plundering and then settling (wícing=pirate) - which caused the Anglo-Saxons' own word to disappear. Some other English words would lose out in this way, though not always to become obsolete. Compare for example the Scandinavian-derived "skill" to the English "craft," "anger" to "wrath," "skin" to "hide," and "husband" to "man." Damn Vikings....