National Aquarium

During my spring visit to the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland, I was so amazingly glad to have a sketchbook on hand. So many amazing critters to admire!

Even paused to draw one of the many historic ships on the harbor. Really interesting town, soaked in history and culture. Would love to explore more of Baltimore.

4-T Trail Hike

Way back at the beginning of August, my friend Gretchin threw a birthday party which involved inviting all of her friends to go for a hike! The 4-T Trail uses a combination of public transportation and hiking paths to make a loop from downtown Portland up through the west hills and then back via the south waterfront. * A principios de agosto, mi amiga Gretchin organizó una excursión por el sendero 4-T. Pasamos por el centro de la ciudad hasta la cima de las colinas del oeste, usando una combinación de transporte público y senderos rústicos en el bosque. 

Most of my time was spent walking and chatting with the wonderful people at the party, but I did get in a few sketches at the main rest stops. * Pasé la mayoría de mi tiempo caminando y charlando con la gente en la fiesta, pero también dibujé en algunos lugares donde nos paramos para descansar. 

When we returned home after the hike, I thought I was headed straight for a nap. But--surprise!--there was a block party going on that had a live band in the street. We ended up hanging out with more nice people and enjoying the music to finish off the day. * Al regresar a la casa, yo intentaba descansar. Pero--¡que sorpresa!--había una fiesta en nuestro vecindario, incluso una banda tocando en vivo en la calle. Pasemos un rato charlando y escuchando la música antes de terminar el día.

Lazy Vacation

The trick with going on vacation is that it's darned hard to sketch while socializing with family and friends! Despite a whole week in California, I only got a chance to pick up the sketchbook twice. * ¡Lo difícil de ir de vacaciones es que es muy difícil dibujar cuando estoy enfocada en socilizar con familia y amigos! Pasé una semana entera en California, y solo tuve la oportunidad de dibujar dos veces. 

The first chance was when we stopped at my parent's house. Their kitties are not offended when I skip the conversation in favor of the paints! * La primera vez fue cuando nos paramos en la casa de mis padres. ¡Los gatos no son ofendidos si agarro las acuarelas en vez de conversar!

Later, I took a few quiet moments to sketch while I watched my husband and his mom play a strategy game. * Después, encontré algunos momentos pacificos para dibujar mientras observaba un juego de estrategia entre mi esposo y su mamá.

But I don't mean to complain--I had a lovely time seeing folks, and it was very relaxing all around. Plus, my little 3-year-old niece got a chance to do some serious painting with my watercolors while we waited for dinner! It's a delight to see how much she seemed to learn with each stroke of the brush. Inspiring. * Pero no debo quejarme--era un gran placer visitar con todos, y me relajé mucho. Ademas, ¡mi nieta de 3 años tuvo la oportunidad de hacer un serie de pinturas con mis acuarelas mientras esperamos la cena en un restaurante! Me encanta ver cuánto ella aprendió con cada paso del pincel--qué inspiración.

Mobile Cannery, Tall Lungwort

Spent last weekend in lovely Eugene, Oregon. We stopped by the Center for Appropriate Transport on Saturday to check out their 20th Anniversary Party; had a great time watching folks test-ride ingenious bikes.

Sunday was the Wildflower Festival out at Mount Pisgah Arboretum. As usual, there were so many old friends to catch up with that I didn't end up having a lot of time to sketch the amazing display of flowers; but I did jot down a few doodles of some especially pretty and interesting specimens. 

Had a great chat with a friend who is studying environmental education about how sketching is such a good way to slow down and be present in the moment, and to really spend time observing--even if the final drawing is not especially great, the act of having been there LOOKING is rewarding. She called this "finding a sit-spot," and I like that concept quite a bit! 

Small Doodles

My little pocket notebook, which I intend to use for grocery lists and other mundane notes, sometimes catches little random sketches simply because it is on hand and convenient. Here are a few recent examples. * Tengo un cuadernito que llevo conmigo para apuntar cosas sobre los quehacers mundanos del dia. A veces, lo uso para dibujar simplemente porque lo tengo conmigo. Aqui hay algunos ejemplos recientes. 

 

Bee-mimic fly & brick building. * Mosca que imita una abeja, y edificio de ladrillos.

Punk rock dude & urban goats. * Un tipo punk-rock y tres cabras urbanas.

Frisky Bears

Just a couple of bear sketches from a zoo visit last month. * Simplemente un par de dibujos de los osos en el zoológico, hecho el marzo pasado.

Elephants

Elephants are kind of a thing in my family. Back in 1962, when Packy was born at the Oregon Zoo, my grandfather loaded his family into the car and drove all the way from California so they could see the baby elephant. So when my Aunt Lois was visiting Portland earlier this month, of course we had to go visit the new baby elephant, Lily. * En mi familia, tenemos un gran interés en los elefantes. En 1962, cuando Packy se nació en el Oregon Zoo, my abuelo cargó toda la familia en el auto y condució de Californa hasta Oregon para ver el elefante recién nacido. Así que, cuando mi iía Lois visitó Portland esta mez, claro que fuimos a ver el nuevo bebe en la familia de elefantes, Lily.

And in the tradition of Grandpa Chang, I of course had to sketch baby Lily and her mother Rose-Tu while I was there. * Y en la tradición de mi abuelo Chang, claro que tuve que dibujar el bebe Lily y su mama, Rose-Tu, durante la visita.

My grandmother recently send me a letter that ended with, "Hope you are well--draw more elephants!" Yes, m'am. * Mi abuela me mandó una carta recientemente que terminó con la frase, "Espero que estes bien--¡dibuja más elefantes!" Sí, señora. 

Edited to add a photo of Grandpa Chang drawing elephants. * Editado para incluir un photo de mi abuelo Chang dibujando elefantes. 

 

Fruit Bats

Winter at the Oregon Zoo. On a cold and rainy day, the cave-like structure of the fruit bat habitat can not only give you protection from the wind and rain, but give you tons of delight, too. * Oregon Zoo en el invierno. La cueva artificial del hábitat para murciélagos frugívoros nos da protección de la lluvia y el viento, y también nos da tanta diversión.

Watercolor and ballpoint pen. * Acuarela y bolígrafo.

Even when the bats are still wrapped in their wings, not wanting to face the cold, they are delightful. And the complex layers of wings and legs all bundled up for warmth is a fancy puzzle! Bat origami. * Aun cuando los murcielagos están aún envueltos en sus alas, no queriendo meterse en el frío del día ya, me encantan. ¡Las capas complejas de alas y piernas que están envueltos para conservar el calor hace un rompecabezas interesante! Origami con murciélagos.

 "He's like a sloth! He's a really fast sloth." * ¡Es como un perezoso--pero muy rápido!

Baby Elephant

I am happy to report that the 16-day-old baby elephant at the Oregon Zoo is exactly as cute as you would expect. * Tengo placer en declarar que el elefante que se nació hace 16 dias en el Oregon Zoo es increíblemente precioso.

She runs around a lot but also trips over her own feet sometimes. * Ella corre con alegría, pero es muy joven y por supuesto se caye de vez en cuando.

And when she had explored for a little while, she runs back to tuck herself in the safe shelter of her massive mom. * Despues de explorar un poco, suele correr a la albergarse cerca de su mamá enorme.

The difference in shape between a full-grown adult (above) and a baby elephant (below) is very interesting! * ¡La diferencia del forma de un elefante adulto (arriba) y un elefante bebé (abajo) es muy interesante!

Zoo, With Friends

My friend T and her family came to visit over Memorial Day weekend. The kids were as excited to see the zoo as I was, hurrah! Lots of fast monotone sketches as our merry group tried to keep sight of each other in the dense holiday crowd.

My friend T's version of the hippo came out delightfully well too. Hooray for adventures with art-nerds and their nerdiness-accommodating families!

More Zoo Watercolors

Last weekend at the zoo, I decided to play with watercolors. How splashy and free-form could I go? (Ah, the salmonberries are blooming, hooray for spring...)

And how dark and contrasty could I go? (Hello, surly cattle egret! What fine plumage you have.)

Ultimately, I ended up in the middle somewhere, watching the mature elephants proudly swish their tails while the whippersnapper elephant sprayed water from his trunk and playfully head-butted his elders.

I had a good time painting that day. (See also the hippo and Mount Hood.)

Hippo Adventure

I have been little bit obsessed with visiting the Oregon Zoo on weekends of late. Partly, it's the sheer gratuitous convenience of it--I haven't lived so close to a zoo since I spent a summer in Washington DC. So yes. Give me a few spare hours on a Saturday afternoon, and you'll very likely see me making a bee-line to the zoo.

And this past Saturday, there I was at the hippo habitat, and the hippos had hauled out of their pond and were dozing in the sun. I only had 15 minutes until the zoo was going to close, but I really wanted to get the sketch of the hippo in this lovely pose. Boom, whacked out the rough ink outlines, now just need to break out the watercolors and get it painted in...

Mind you, it has been months since I used my watercolors. And the last time we moved, I put my awesome sketching-optimized hip-pack into a box and of course I haven't seen sense. So I'm just fumbling around with a shoulder bag, trying to get my paints and water and brushes all ready, feeling rushed and flustered.

And the next thing I know, the sketchbook has fallen over the fence...right into the hippo enclosure. Whoops.

I couldn't reach it. The lashed-together stakes of bamboo were tall and pokey for reaching over, and too close together to slip a hand through. The tall young woman standing next to me couldn't reach it either. But then her boyfriend gave her a boost, and she performed an incredible (and darned nerve-racking) feat of gymnastics that, amazingly, allowed her to grab the sketchbook. We gaped at each other, stunned, amazed that it had worked. (All the while, passing elementary school students were chatting about how many more people are killed by hippos than by lions each year, too--heightening the sense of danger, indeed!)

In gratitude, I gave the two brave heros one of the "boldly go" cards that I had in my bag. They were delighted--art rescue, art reward.  Perfect.

And, in truth, the hippo sketch really was the best thing I did all day. What a face!

Idea-Gathering for Wildflower Festival Posters

It sounds like the official Wildflower Festival posters are going to start appearing around the Eugene/Springfield area of Oregon this weekend! To celebrate, more preliminary sketches from that project--when we were still trying to decide what species of bird, and what species of butterfly, would work best. Ideas, measurements, data, doodles.

Some of those quick drawings of birds singing their hearts out are so funny to me. Makes me think of the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip, where the song sparrow bursts into a rousing chorus of "On Top of Spaghetti..."

4/22/12 Edited to add: Realizing folks may not have followed the link at the top to see the final poster in all its purple glory, will include that image here. Yay!

Wildflower Season

Mount Pisgah Arboretum invited me to do the poster art for their Wildflower Festival again this year. The event, which is scheduled for May 20, 2012, is always a delightful one--great music, great food, great people, and hundreds and hundreds of local wildflowers with botanists galore to tell you all about them.

The featured flower on the poster this year is the riverine lupine, Lupinus rivularis. Since I am such a fan of talking about sketching as a process, here are some of hidden, early layers in the Photoshop file that show me doodling rough shapes and colors before settling in on the final arrangement.

Similarly, the yellow-rumped warbler went through a lot of different poses and refinements before it ended up in its final state.

Keep your eyes open; volunteers will be putting posters up all over the Eugene/Springfield area soon!

More posts about creating posters for festivals at Mount Pisgah Arboretum:

• Lobster Mushroom
• Monkeyflowers
• Witches's cap with banana slug
• California oatgrass