L.W.ROTH, ARTIST

A dash off today. A scribbled design suitable for a thank you note, but nothing more than marks I had to make to try out the new square sketch pad and some fine line markers I bought yesterday at the art supply store.

There is no more exciting place than the art supply store. I could spend hours looking and touching all the stuff of promise--the paints, the drawing pads, the pencils and knead erasers, the newest easels that go flat and the brushes, all shapes and sizes, the instruments of a multitude of strokes--I love it all and want to load it all in the car and head for home.

I went in there for the studio size tubes of Dioxanine purple and Phthalocyanine green (blue shade) I've had on my list for months. The "thalo" green/blue mixed with the dioxanine makes the richest dark blue you've ever seen. And when you mix it with white, you get the color of the Caribbean off the Cancun beach on the sunniest of days, aquamarine, the happiest color on earth.

But I couldn't leave with just my essentials, I had to throw in another studio size tube of Titanium White (an absolute necessity you do not want to run out of) and pick up 9 x 12 vellum pads, (for work), the new-to-me square sketch pad,(my favorite format) and a Crayola box of 48 washable fine line markers I couldn't resist. While the colors were the basics, the box was the attraction. I was tired of putting my markers back in the pouch that was hard to close; the box would make them readily available. I'm such a sucker in the art supply store. Eighty some odd bucks later, I walked out the door high on anticipation.

I order most of my art supplies from Dick Blick on line. Ordering on line is more economical; my head can't be turned by the beautiful box of colored pencils on the shelf that has a full range of grays. On line, I stick to business. Catalogue in hand, I study and compare products, and order just what I need. With no distractions, I save money. But where's the excitement in that?