Lobster

While Barbara and her mum browse around Makro, I head for the instore fishmongers and draw one of the cooked lobsters. The common lobster, Homarus gammarus, can live 20 years and grow to a metre in length but this one is little more than 30 cm.

In life, lobsters are dark bluish on an orange background; they turn red when cooked. In supermarkets in Brittany I've seen them trundling about in large deep trays of saltwater, their pincers bound with heavy duty rubber bands. Huge spider crabs are often unfortunate enough to end up alongside them.

'Man's Best Friend'

I've drawn Tess on numerous occasions and it's quite a challenge, as we sit talking at our friends' house, trying to draw a glossy black dog curled up in the dim shadow of an armchair. I can follow her outline but the rest would be guesswork.

I had hoped to sketch a close-up portrait of her sitting with her head resting on my knee with a practised look of folorn faithfulness in her eyes - *sigh* - but the moment I finish my chocolate biscuit and pick up my sketchbook she loses interest. That's dogs for you; 'man's best friend'.