Earlier this week my boyfriend and I had the opportunity to spend a couple of days in Yosemite, a veritable cathedral of nature. True vacations, with an absence of technology and worldly connection, are rare for us, and the whole experience was a real treat.
Our stay there may have been brief (one evening, one full day, and one half day; far too short!!!), but I got the chance to do a little painting to break in my new sketchbook in between hiking trips. This is part of the mountain that makes up the gorgeous Half Dome (this is a bit of the south side, I think?), as viewed from Mirror Lake (which, it should be noted, is actually mostly a meadow in the summer – much to the surprise of my bathing-suit-clad and towel-toting boyfriend and I).
This is the very first time I’ve participated in Illustration Friday! I’ve been regularly visiting the site for a while now, but this is the first chance that I’ve had to jump in on the fun. Perhaps it’s because I’m warming up for an upcoming web design job, but yesterday my fingers were just itching to draw, rather than type. Ergo, drawing:
Satellite
Some warm up sketches for an upcoming, very exciting assignment! These are my “getting to know you” sketches – at the beginning of a project I usually like to draw anything that I can find relating to what the final subject will be, just for the sake of getting to know the shape, personality, and movement of the final character. It had been a little while since I’d drawn animals (and I don’t think I’ve ever actually focused on bears before), which made the sketch process even more fun.
Bears really are a lot like humans, especially the wee little ones.
“Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition,” … and a penchant for inappropriate matchmaking. Currently reading Jane Austen’s wonderful novel, and it is filling my mind with regency-themed thoughts.
Another taste of the sketchbook. I’m now back from a weekend camping vacation to Santa Cruz. It was truly a vacation, and for the first time in a long time I didn’t take some form of work with me on a getaway – two solid days of playing badminton under the redwoods, throwing a frisbee on the beach, and hiking through the forest. Glorious!
The brain definitely benefitted from said excursion, and I came back with a few more ideas in my book, along with the realization that my creative mind works best when both completely relaxed and occupied at the same time. The simple task of folding laundry today prompted a new idea for an illustration series, so the mental gears are turning once again – it feels so good!
