Make Everyday a Black Tie and Tails Day

My husband and I have been enjoying the PBS show, Downton Abbey.  We have tried to watch one or two episodes each day while eating our dinner.  Last night we started watching season 5.

Never in my life have I experience watching a TV show from the first episode all the way to the end of the show.  I would always hear people talk about their "Show" is on tonight but I have never watched TV like that.  I've always been a hit and miss kind of viewer.  Never really having a favorite show or even knowing the time or date a specific show was airing but Netflix has changed all that.

Like so many other households,  3 years ago we canned our cable TV subscription and joined Netflix. Maybe a year ago I got involved in the show "Lost" and I was hooked.  Now we have watched every episode of NCIS, Longmire and Sherlock.  I find the experience much like reading a good novel.  I find myself getting involved with the characters and caught up in the story line.  I had watched lots of episodes of NCIS but now, having watched them in sequence, everything makes much greater sense because you know the history.  

I knew I would love Downton Abbey seeing as how I am completely in love with anything Jane Austin.  The only problem I faced was that Downton Abbey isn't on Netflix so I had to pay for a subscription to Amazon Prime to start watching the show.  So far I'm happy with that decision and since many of my art and business supplies are purchased on Amazon it makes the $100 expense a bit easier to deal with.

My Little "Downton Abbey" Mouse Sketch

I suppose I had better get this blog back on track since my focus isn't on critiquing TV shows but talking about my artwork.  The whole Downton Abbey influence is evident, at least to me, in my most recent sketch that I'm calling "Make Everyday a Black Tie and Tails Day".  I was thinking the other day about how the Crawley family often dress so formally just to eat dinner.  Their chauffeur turned son-in-law Tom complained about having to wear a tuxedo to dinner each night.  They put such stock in whether to wear their black or white bow tie.

So my little "Downton Abbey" mouse here is getting all dressed up for a special evening.  His top hat and bow tie are ready and he has just dipped his tail into the jar of black India ink to finish off his formal attire.  He was so much fun to draw yesterday.  I had a number of people watching me at McDonalds in the morning as I started working on the pen and ink work there.  I already have plans on starting a sketch of his date and perhaps I will let the influence of the beautiful "Lady Mary" help me with that one.

The original 5 x 7 matted sketch along with prints, art greeting cards and 4 x 6 art magnets are available in both my Etsy store or on my website