DERMOTT - A life well lived

 Dermott 

a.k.a. Terremoto

February 2000 - July 2012

 

 

 

 

Endlessly loved.

EDM 108 & 109 - Dog Clock and Light Bulbs

EDM #109 - DRAW A CLOCK YOU HAVE AROUND YOUR HOUSE

Who needs a clock when you have a dog. You can set your watch by Dermott.

EDM #108 DRAW A LIGHT BULB

This is part of the Everyday in May challenge - drawing something every day in May.

Visit our flickr group to see all the sketches or even join in.

Sketching & Walking

W&N Sepia Calligraphy Ink, Montblanc pen & waterbrush

As daylight saving ended today I managed to get out of bed early enough to go for a walk. I made this sketch in a cheap book (not confident about what I would achieve) as I returned to town through the olive groves.

Drypoint etching of Dermott

I've reworked the zinc plate for the above print with a diamond tipped drypoint tool. Zinc is not as pleasing to work as copper so I don't think I will be economising in future. Anyway, as HWEM points out, there's probably a limited demand for prints of our dog with his begging bowl.

Scratching Dermott

Drypoint Etching - Dermott with his Begging Bowl

Copper is rather expensive so I decided to try a piece of zinc for a drypoint etching. I didn't polish the plate sufficiently so when I printed, where I wanted bright white, I ended up with soft gray. After pulling the above proof, I decided to repolish the plate and rework the drypoint.

The second result was even more disappointing. Now I'm waiting for my new diamond-point etching needle to arrive from England and I'll have one more try. If that doesn't work, I'm going to leave all future scratching to Dermott!

Butterfly and Dermott Dormant

4" x 4" watercolour on HP paper

Gel pen and sepia ink wash

Bears are dormant during the winter.
Volcanoes are best dormant.
Dermott is dormant after too much Tuscan sun.

The Contender

Dermott & his little friend Bella

Katherine Tyrrell of Marking a Mark has posted the first part of her Making a Mark Blogging Art Awards for 2007.

Dermott is extremely chuffed to discover he was a Contender for 'The Moose' - Best Animal in an Illustrated Blog Award. He was less chuffed when he discovered The Moose had been awarded to a cat! He's left it to me to congratulate Gayle Mason Fur in the Paint on her wonderful 'Out of Sight'.

As Katherine points out Dermott learned to type this year and started his own blog I Am Dog, Hear Me Snore. Had he won 'The Moose' I'm sure there would have been a stewards' inquiry, due to the fact that he has recently been flirting outrageously with Katherine.

Lampo

Watercolour - 7"x10" HP Cartiera Magnani

I've been meaning for a while to paint our next door neighbours' much loved cat, Lampo. Lampo has a taste for antiques and contempt for Old English Sheepdogs.

This cat is stoic in the face of Dermott's terror campaign which, at present, only amounts to Dermott leaping up and down in one spot on top of the cisterna, barking in outrage. Of course, should Dermott at some stage get the idea to jump down from the cisterna and give chase, it will cause an international incident that will almost certainly sever ties between our two families and lead to a cut-off of biscotti and other treats. Do you think Dermott is bright enough to realise this?

I seem to be painting animals and fruit this month when I really intended to take the lead from Katherine, Making a Mark and paint flowers. I did fit in a quick watercolour sketch of the Plumbago which is about the only plant in our garden not suffering from the heat.

Watercolour - Fabriano Artist's Journal

The Dog on the Tucker Box

Australian folklore celebrates the loyalty of a pioneer bullocky's (teamster's) heroic dog who, given the task of guarding his master's tucker box, waited, though he sat on a box of food, until he eventually died of starvation.

Dermott, the least intelligent member of our family, is in the process of creating his own legend here in Italy. His 'tucker box' is an ancient cisterna (water tank) between our garden and that of our neighbours. Here he sits patiently waiting for Lorenzo or Marina to appear with biscotti (biscuits). Now you are probably wondering where the elements of courage and character are in this tale? The cover of the cisterna is half-inch steel plate - on a summer's day you can fry eggs on it! At such times our 'hero' has to tap dance. But he never deserts his 'tucker box'.