Fierce Armored Insect, Contours, and Teenie

Today's drawings are not that great to look at but they were enjoyable to draw.  The enormous insect on the right below, shown just under life size, was on the front door at F's house today.  I've never seen this insect before.  Its body had plates that looked like armor.  It had a serious looking proboscis that you can see in the left side drawing, with a hook on the end of it.  Just as I was finishing the second view, it leap and landed several feet down the wall.  I was so close I could make out facial features!

 After the insect adventure I sat down and did the two contour drawings below.  To me these are super relaxing-- eyes moving slowly but steadily, hand following eyes on the trip around the horizon of each fig.  No visual clues as to form except the very abstract tracing, a line that isn't even there in real life.

Then F's ancient sweet kitty Teenie ambled over and parked herself at my feet and posed for long enough for two drawings and a bad start at a profile.  Later at E's house for Book Club I drew the front and back of an exquisite cheese knife handle, sculpted in silver by E's friend C. Boyes.