January 22 was the 30th World Wide Sketch crawl. The Los Angeles group decided to visit the Natural History Museum.  I’d never visited before, so I was particularly excited to go.  [Interesting side note: I've discovered over the last year or two that I have really high expectations when it comes to museums/aquariums/etc.  This unfortunately(fortunately?) comes from having grown up near some really awesome museums during my formative years (The Smithsonian in DC, the Aquarium at the Harbor, Science Center).  In my head, I've just thought that ALL museums were this awesome. You can understand my disappointment when I started giving other locations as an adult and realized how lucky I had been.]

The NHM was a really neat place to go and draw.  There was a pretty large turn out of other artist from the area.  It was a hoot to see a large gaggle of artist, huddled around the dinosaur display, sketchpads out.  Watching the other visitors was even cooler, as they tried to figure out what was going on.

I kept to myself for the most part, since this trip was supposed to be my Artist Date for the week (Julia Cameron’s Artist’s Way).  I wanted to feel the complete freedom to go where I wanted, and linger as long as I wanted.

I loved the animal exhibits. Drawing animals is sooo much easier knowing that they won’t be moving on you. You know, being dead and stuffed an all.

A few nights before this, I had a typical “Crazy Megan” dream (as my husband calls them) involving a cabin in the woods,  aliens, and a weird looking animal–a strange mixture between a zebra and giraffe.  I wrote this the next morning after I woke up: “Last night I dreamed up this giraffe like creature, but with tan and brown stripes like, a zebra’s.   Maybe my giraffe-thingy lives in the jungle. It would have have short fir because of the humidity.  Not a long neck, cause he can’t reach the tree tops.  So maybe he grazes, like a deer. I’ll try and draw it later.” I wish I HAD drawn it, but I didn’t. And now I have no pictorial proof of my awesome idea.

And then, while drawing in one of the animal exhibits at the NHM…   There it was.

My Giraffe-thingy.  It was REAL.

I stood there in complete shock, reading the description on the plaque: “Okapis are the only living relatives of the the giraffe.  Despite their large size, they were weren’t discovered until 1901.  The have foot-long blue tongues that they use to strip leaves and buds from trees, and also to clean their eyelids and ears!”

All I could think was this: MY BRAIN IS AWESOME. I IMAGINED IT AND IT CAME TO LIFE!!  Well, not really life, since this particular giraffe-thingy was very dead. And stuffed. But still.

Too bad I wasn’t actually alive in 1901 to claim the credit that I was due.

This past Saturday, I got to spend the day at Disneyland with my sister Christy and my mom, to celebrate Mom’s 65th birthday.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day in southern California. Not too hot, the sun was shinning, the sky was blue…   We spend ALL day at the park. For Christy, it was almost 20 years since the last time she’s been to Disneyland. It always amazes me how many things in the park change…and how many stay the same.  The park has such a timeless quality to it that I love.

I didn’t do very much sketching since we were running around all day, but I did get these two quick drawings done.  One just outside Thunder Mountain Railroad, and one of Christy while we were eating some ice cream in the Gibson Girl Parlor.

This was was a rough year in the Stringfellow household, full of a lot of emotional ups and downs. But its given me a chance to experience a new side of creating art.  For most of my life, making art has been about getting images that are in my brain OUT onto paper for others to enjoy as well.  But this year, I’ve learn that art can also help bring you to a place of healing.

2010 started off with finding out that my husband was losing his full time job which came as an unwelcome shock to us.  But March came rolling in with a wonderful present: after 9 months of struggling to start our family, I was finally pregnant!  We were on cloud nine for the next several weeks, getting to see our tiny bean on the ultrasound, hearing the heartbeat, and starting to realize that our lives as a young easy-going couple were over.   I spent almost the entire time living on the couch, exhausted every day, lacking the energy or the creativity to do anything artistic (let alone the dishes or laundry).  But I told myself it was okay, all of my creative energy was currently being used for something much more important.

And then very suddenly…it was over.  Just before the first trimester was over, I went to the doctor for some unusual bleeding.  And found out our baby’s heart had stopped beating.

We were devastated.  I wandered around in a daze, not able to understand how I had gone from being pregnant to not.  It ended so quickly.  Some days, it felt like a dream to me. Had I really been pregnant? I would cling to the ultrasound pictures, to reassure myself that I hadn’t imagined the whole thing. There really had been a tiny life inside me.

But yet, I had nothing left. Nothing to show the world that there had indeed existed a special person, who was now missing from our lives.  I couldn’t stop wondering what our little Samuel was doing. I knew he was happy…but was he lonely? Did he miss us? Was he having fun? Getting to play? And then one night, I found myself sitting in bed, with a sketch pad and pencil.  And I drew, putting him down on paper. I needed to create a world for him, filled with some of my favorite toys growing up, a playmate to show him around (sweet Hannah, the baby my sister-in-law had lost a year before), pets for him to play with…I had to see it for myself, in the only way I knew how.  So I drew.

I broke down when I got to his little toes.

But when I was all done, I felt a peace.  Was I still in pain, and sad, and mad, and grieving? Yes. But I knew I could stop worrying about him.  He was being taken care of by the best Babysitter in the universe.

Four months later, I was starting to feel human again.  Finding balance again. And pregnant again.  The joy was there, but also great fear.  We could no longer be naive and carefree.  We breathed a little easier after our first ultrasound, and heard the heartbeat.  But when I started spotting a few weeks later, we knew what was happe

I have always been fascinated with Mary.   What kind of woman would be trusted to raise the Son of God?  Jesus was completely human while still being completely God, so I imagine his birth was like any other.  It hurt like heck, was tiring and messy. And yet, knowing that the baby you were giving birth to was also a Savior–what an odd and fascinating combination of circumstances.

I image that she was more than just a little awed and terrified on that first Christmas morning.  A first time mother, not to just any baby, but to the SON of GOD.  It must have been just a tab overwhelming.

This is why I’ve tried drawing her a few times over the years. I’ve wanted to try and capture that strange tension that must have been her life…joy…fear…wonder…stress.

The pencil drawing is from around 2000.  I wanted to try and capture her, moments before labor begins. She and Joseph have arrived in Bethlehem, and she is exhausted from the journey.

The painting at the top is from my sketchbook.  I put some watercolors over a quick ink drawing, inspired mainly by a baby I was observing during church.  Joseph is in the background.  Now THERE is another fascinating person I’d love to have a cup of tea with some day.  How many more times can I say fascinating in this post?

This image popped into my mind this weekend at church.   I was very down and tired and just emotionally drained.  As I was praying that God would give me the strength to get through the day, this image came to me.

I sketched it in ArtRage with the pencil tool in about an hour and a half. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to just leave it as is, or to add color. I really liked how the sketch turned out, but I decided to go ahead and color it.

The sketch was done on a top layer, so I just started to lay the oils down underneath it to add the background. I used the big roller  brush to lay down a lot of color, and then smoothed out the rough parts using the palette knife.  Then I used the square oil brush.  Since I liked the sketch so much, I decided just to leave it visible as the top layer.

Here is the finished colored version.  I still can’t decide which one I like the best.

The theme this week for Illustration Friday was “Star Gazing.”  Starry skies are high on my list of things I love to draw, so how could I resist doing this one?  So I painted Norton, and a friend out at night looking up at the sky.  Maybe they are wondering if the rumors about the moon being made of cheese is real. In my mind the second mouse is Molly, but she doesn’t look very white is this picture.  Maybe she got a little dirty on her climb up the hill.

Watercolors, with details finished in acrylics and color pencil.  5×7 on watercolor paper, close to 2 hours.

Friday evening after work, Clint and I met some friends at the Olde Ship, in Fullerton.  It was really busy in downtown Fullerton because of the monthly art walk.  We had to wait a while for a table, the place was packed.  I was able to do a very quick sketch of Sean, the bartender.  It was hard really to capture him with how much he was moving around, making drinks.

After an hour or so, we got a booth in the corner.  My two favorite things at the Olde Ship are the clam chowder, and the fruit of the forest pie (warm!) with ice cream.  Wouldn’t recommend having them together at the same time, but both are sooo delicious.  It was nice just to chill out with friends and enjoy good company.

On Saturday, we went to a BBQ over at Crock’s (from Zeitronix) in Long Beach.  The smoked ribs were to die for, and as it got dark outside, I did a sketch of the backyard and the colorful chinese lanterns. I think over all, Clint had a great birthday!

I’ve had ArtRage 2.6 for a while now, but just yesterday downloaded the 30 day trail of ArtRage 3.0 to try it out.  I was impressed with the new features, and really excited about the new watercolor brush.  But first, I played with the oils, testing out the new options.  Just to give you an idea of the changes, here is a side by side comparison of the screen from 2.6 and 3.0:

With version 2.6, I never really was able to get the hang of the way the oil paints blended together.  Whether this was user error, or a difficulty with the program, I keep me from using it for any full scale paintings.  I had fun using it for sketches and speed painting, but not for elaborate illustrations.  The fairy on the right was painted this way, in 2007.

I found that with the new settings in 3.0, it was much easier to create the effect I wanted with the oils.  Each brush comes with four presets that were helpful.  The palette knife also I has a lot of new nifty presets.  I really enjoyed working in the program.  I spend 2.5 hours on each of the small paintings below, and am really happy with the level of detail I was able to achieve.

I thought I just share the process I go through when putting together a storybook illustration for in my sketchbook.  The subject of this particular painting is Norton, the mouse. And a few of his friends.  The drawing size is aprox 3.5 x 5 inches.

1. I start with a pencil drawing to work out the perspective, layout and details of the picture. Once I’m happy, I go over it with ink, to refine the lines. I might add some hatching for the shadows.

2. To get started on the painting, I usually lay down a wash of a solid color over the whole drawing. In this case, a brown wash.  When it is almost dry, but not quite, I work in some of the major color blocks, and some of the shadows. The paint bleeds slightly into the background in a nice way because its not completely dry.  Things are still very lose at this point, allowing for “happy” accidents that make for interesting paintings.

3. I continue to add more colors, and start working in the shadows to add more depth to the picture. My brush is getting smaller and smaller as I work from big shapes to more details.  The painting looks very flat to me at this point.  I need to add some deeper shadows to make certain areas pop more.

4. I decided darkened the top of the painting to give it more depth, and darkened the shadows using a bluish green wash.  Everything was looking just a little TOO brown. The darker background helps the book stand out. When after all the painting was done, I went back over some of the lines that disappeared under the paint with my pen.

This is Boxes, an adventurous goldfish that lives in the same library as Norton.  He gets pulled into the adventures with Norton. And of course, his bowl always comes with him, complete with his pet snail and treasure chest, filled with useful items.

Decided to use Boxes for the “Caged” theme, since the bowl is a type a cage, just a more roundy see-throughy cage. That comes with a pet snail.

Boxes is having a good time, even if he is flying through the air in the middle of a pirate battle. Maybe he hopes to make his escape into the ocean.  Or maybe he just wants to be a pirate himself.  Watercolors and ink drawing, 2 hrs.

This is Mrs. Thornapple, the Library’s resident (sleepy) cat. Really she is harmless, and Norton has no reason to fear her.  She is much more interested in napping in sun spots than chasing mice.

I need to get some more practice in drawing cats.  They, unsurprisingly (since I am very allergic to them) are my least favorite thing to draw.   I love chasing them out of my garden, but that is another story altogether.

“When the rain came down in buckets, Norton would take a walk in the cornfield and pay a visit to Mr. Scarecrow.  While he was very good at scaring off the crows, Mr. Scarecrow was terrified of lightning.  So all through the storm, Norton sat by him, so that he wouldn’t be afraid.”

The scarecrow is the artificial aspect of this drawing.  I sketched them out with pencil first, and then went back and added in the details with my ink pen.  I used masking for the rain drops, and then put down a wash of blue.  Then I started working in the browns and yellows in layers.  When it was all dry, I flicked in some white acrylic paint for more rainy effect.  Time to complete, around two hours.

On Saturday, I participated in my first sketch crawl. (A sketch crawl is day/time set aside for drawing, usually at a specific locale.) I joined the Los Angeles group at Hollywood and Highlands, and had a delightful time! We met around the fountain, and stayed in that area for most of the late morning. It was great to meet a bunch of new folks, and share in the experience with them.  I loved watching other people’s reactions as they walked by us.  Particularly the kids, who seemed to be drawn (ha!) to the artistic energy. I watched one little boy stand over Ivan’s shoulder for a good five minutes…leave, and then come back again.  He was completely fascinated by what was going on, but couldn’t seem to work up the courage to ask any questions.

I stayed with the group until lunch, and then had to duck out to meet up with my husband and his folks, who were in town visiting for the weekend. I didn’t get as many drawings done as I thought I would, but I had so much fun.  I think I will be back next time it rolls around. Note to self: next time, bring a hat.

Here are some of my sketches from the day:

Other sketchers: http://www.sketchcrawl.com/forum/viewtopic.ph

Last night Clint and I finally went in and had dinner at a place that I’ve driven by a hundred times. And almost every time, I think to myself: I HAVE to go in there.  The name itself is enough to draw me in: “The Cat and the Custard Cup.”  Add the ivy covered English front,  and hand-painted-looking sign, and how could I resist?  The inside of the place exceeded my expectations.  It was decorated with old English furniture and fabrics.  I felt like I was stepping into an classy English pub.  In the middle of La Habra?!  I felt a little weird pulling out my pen and sketchbook, but I couldn’t resist with so much eye candy to look at.  But I was able to get most of the details drawn before our food arrived.  I took a quick picture with Clint’s camera for color reference, though I ended up painting from memory.  Will definitely have to go back for more.

This weeks theme at Illustration Friday is “Double.” The double part of this sketch is, of course, the reflections in the puddle.  Making copies of Norton and the tree.

“When it rained, Norton would venture outside to clean his whiskers and fur.  He splashed in the puddles, and splished in the raindrops, until he was squeaky clean.”

Sketched with pencil and ink, and then painted over with watercolors. I started with a blueish/green wash, and then built up the browns and greens.  I went back over with the pen and a gray marker when I was done to work in a few more details and shadows. Total time, maybe an hour and a half.

Illustration Friday is a weekly creative outlet/participatory art exhibit for illustrators and artists of all skill levels.

A month ago, I spent a week down in San Jose del Cabo with my husband Clint and his family.  We had a direct flight out of LAX, to San Jose.

I love traveling with my husband, we rarely fight or get too stress.  We’ve pretty much mastered the techniques for getting through security as painlessly as possible, EVEN when we get selected for secondary screening, which happens often since we are often flying standby.  While waiting to board our flight, I did a quick sketch of the boarding area.  I think the gentlemen in the blue shirt  got a little suspicious of what I was doing.  He kept staring at me for most of the time I was drawing.  Most likely, he was trying to figure out what I was doing.  Hopefully he wasn’t a mob boss, and was planning on having me wacked for capturing his likeness.

On the flight, I got to enjoy a refreshing “Mexi-coke.”  The Coke bottled in Mexico is made using real sugar, instead of corn syrup like we do in the states.  As a result, I believe it takes slightly better than our Coke in the US.  Most likely, it is all in my head.  But it was fun to see the World Cup hype in Spanish.  The flight from LA to del Cabo is about three hours. Just long enough to get started on a good book, or watch a movie.

Our flight arrived before Clint’s folks.  So we relaxed in the small airport bar.  The NBA finals were playing on the TV (Boston vs Orlando).  San Jose del Cabo airport it a tiny place, with two baggage carousals, but the moment you walk out the door into the terminal, you are bombarded by men trying to sell you rental cars, and have you sign up to visit their time shares.  We’ve had to walk this gauntlet every time we’ve landed in Cabo.  I’ve always imagined that there were always there, waiting to pounce on unsuspecting tourist just off the plane.  But what I never considered was the small number of flights that arrive in this tiny airport on a daily basis.  There might be one every few hours.  Max.  So what do these eager salesmen do while they are waiting for the next flight of fresh meat to come in? They sit at the bar, drink beer, and watch the NBA finals.

We stayed at the Grand Mayan Resort.  The Grand Mayan in San Jose is not as large as the one in Puerto Vallarta, but what it lacks in size, it makes up for in style and comfort.  To enter the hotel, you first have to pass through a dark, vaulted, marble room.  As you look up, and up, at two very large statues of a Mayan man and woman, you hear drums and 0 Comments on San Jose del Cabo trip recap as of 1/1/1900