OMG, shades of gunpowder packed into bottles for use by revolutionaries! Cool sketch of the bottle in a very gray ambiance, Mark, (do I detect some purple in the bottle?) reminiscent of the old masters in their depiction of still life art.

Nicely worked piece Mark regardless of when it was done!!

Oooh: this is super! It reminds me of some of the bottles I saw in old, old cellars in Prague (the oldest cellars seem to be restaurants and bars now: a few even have crypts in them) and so seeing this was a marvel for me. I love the texture of this; it's quite a sensual piece of work. For me it's not so much the bottle itself as the essence of it: the shape, the dust on the surface (even if it's pristine, but for me a dusty bottle is always a treasure) and even the temperature of the glass. The whole thing comes together so incredibly well and the subtle shadings give it such life; based on the colors I'd guess that this represents an exquisite vintage: it also makes me think of rakia or whatever that liquid gunpowder is that they drink in the Balkans...that's another Prague memory, drinking family-made rakia with a Macedonian girl with an Australian accent, in Prague teaching English and hanging out with neighbors, usually with bottles shaped like this, though (once) we had the good stuff in--get this!--a Coka Cola bottle with a cork in it. Now that's classy--classy of a different order than the elegance you've presented here.

ZEN is the first concept I have had seeing this image !!!! Very very good idea !!

Luscious!

Splendid!!!!!

Excellent job!!!

Yea, this is such an exciting drawing, as you made it look so solid, as if it was made of ceramics... and so glossy. One can now guess what could have been in it. Something very special :-) An old closter wine, maybe :) Love the texture from the pencils and the gentle reflections of the light. So beautifully done, dear Mark :)

Fantastically well done my friend !

What a fine old bottle. I really like the color, texture and sheen, and am very impressed you created this with color pencil. There is a bit of mystery about it, and also makes me wonder what might be, or have been, inside. It reminds me of a bottle my father in law had at his home (estate) in Michigan. He lived in this huge historical home and in a porch room he had antique glass of all kinds, including bottles, vases, bowls, glass sculptures, tea cups, sitting on shelves inside the windows. There were so many items it was overwhelming, and everything was covered in a fine layer of dust. He saw me just sitting and staring at all the objects and said 'pick something you like'. Again I was overwhelmed and finally ended up selecting a little crystal glass slipper that now sits on my dresser. This bottle you created could have been in that antique collection.

Yes to all of the above; the texture reminds me of one of those old ceramic crock-type bottles, very heavy, and I can almost feel the coldness of the surace. The high-key way that the top of the bottle blends into the surroundings grabs me, for some reason; I love that feeling of melding with the environment. You've done a fantastically deceptively-simple piece of art here, and I love it...

Just a bottle, but wow, it has such PRESENCE!! Still life that leaps off the page and says :"Look at me!!" So I did and yep, love this one too!!

Mark, this is truly a stunning presentation that I am so happy you shared with us. Although you mentioned it is an older drawing, for sure it must be one you were very proud of. The longer I stare at it the more I am impressed with all of the beautiful detailing.

excellent