Down to It

I'm breaking the paralysis. Today I do the drawing for the first spread in the Passover book which includes a drawing of a seder plate and the items thereon. Google is my buddy; how did I live before it? The image search has yielded beautiful pictures of horseradish and lamb shanks as well as many seder plates from which to draw inspiration. I have just found an article on the traditional arrangement of the items (I thought it was all random) and another article that justifies my decision to omit the piece of lettuce that some believe should be on the plate in addition to the horseradish. I mean, it's supposed to be a bitter herb, for god's sake! The Hebrew for "lettuce" may have some etymological connection to Rashi's mention of hazeret, but it's not bitter! Sheesh.

Oy, Jews, you worry about the placement of every comma in ancient books! Okay, in this article they're doing a variation on the horseradish plus lettuce scenario and using ground horseradish as well as a whole piece just to cover their bitter asses. Maybe I'll draw a piece of horseradish sitting on a leaf of lettuce. Good thing I checked.

It's a hot day. I'll work at the kitchen table with a fan on, strategically placed to blow off my sweat but not rustle my paper. I'm shooing Snake and Tu-tu off to the beach so I won't be disturbed. I'm excited. Here's hoping the muses are with me. (Heh, "Thou shalt have no other gods, baby!" Shut up!)