I hope you all have been basking in the sun (with sunscreen) and getting some much-needed vitamin D! And don't forget to drink loads of water!
Last month, I enjoyed a cup-filling trip to Sedona, Arizona, for hiking and adventure. It was a breath of fresh air. Seeing the Red Rock mountains, cacti, and trees were truly inspiring. The experience filled my heart with joy!
A Journey through Sedona
Everywhere I looked, beautiful views surrounded me. When I returned to Houston, I felt a rush of inspiration to draw! On one particular hike, I met a man searching for Bigfoot. He even asked if we had seen any Sasquatches! I couldn’t help but laugh. Bigfoot symbolizes wanderlust for me. He (or she) lives off the land, always searching and adventuring. We also had my sweet Leonora with us. I decked her out in adventure tees, which surely put me in the right vibes.
With this inspiration in mind, I decided to create Bigfoot and hiking illustrations. I aimed to make a pattern or an art print.
The Creative Process
When I start sketching, it always begins a bit rough and weird, often with a list in hand. The first step was drawing Bigfoot. I brainstormed about the vibe I wanted to convey. Finally, I concluded that I should draw them all!
Next, I focused on camping and hiking gear inspired by our trip. I drew a cactus, a tree, boots, a backpack, my Nalgene bottle, and more. All of these are items that resonated with my adventure.
Exploring Color Palettes
As I pulled from the gorgeous colors of the area, I thought about using greens, oranges, and burnt sienna shades.
I can't decide which style to pursue. So, why not do them all? I want to try outlined, pencil, and block coloring styles. I'm looking forward to creating a watercolor version as well!
Moving on to Bigfoot, I planned to illustrate him in the same vibes as the gear: line, pencil, and block.
Conclusion and Future Plans
I'm still completing the final illustration showcased in the gallery above. The beauty of being indecisive is that I can explore all my creative routes. There’s no deadline for this design, just plenty of play.
I want to share a few final Sedona pictures. I had a truly magical trip there! If you ever get the chance to visit Sedona, I highly recommend it. Just keep in mind, it gets very warm in summer, so spring and winter are the best times to explore!
I need to wrap up this post now. I promise to share the finished artwork when it's ready. I hope you enjoyed peeking behind the curtain of my design process, from inspiration to sketches and doodles!
I will see you all soon!
xoxo,
Rachel
April was a fun-filled, adventurous, and fulfilling month for me! Why? It was my birthday month! I celebrated my 36th trip around the sun, and I must say, it feels great.
Birthday Celebrations and Adventures
What did I do to celebrate? Here’s a quick rundown:
Dined on delectable treats made by my sweetie and enjoyed a lovely birthday lunch date.
Unfortunately, I caught a cold, which seems unavoidable when living with an almost 18-month-old!
Enjoyed drinks with my girlfriends at a charming wine bar.
Went to Sedona, Arizona, for a week, celebrating my birthday with hiking and amazing adventures alongside my two sweeties, Ricky and Leonora.
As we're approaching Mother's Day and my hubby's birthday, it's a busy season for us! April and May are back-to-back celebration months. My family has two birthdays at the end of March, three in April, and three again in May and June. It’s a birthday bonanza, combined with Mother's and Father's Day.
Creative Inspirations
Having just returned from our incredible trip, I'm still catching my breath. This month, I'm keeping this newsletter simple. I’ve included a relaxing timelapse painting of my calendar's "May" illustration! One of my favorite aspects of a wall calendar is flipping the page each month to discover a new design. March focused on planting seeds, while April was dedicated to watering those seeds, allowing them to grow and flourish in May!
New Artwork Ideas
I already have fun ideas for new artwork inspired by my trip. I hope to share those with you soon! For now, I’ve included a magical snap of the Sedona area below.
Behind-the-Scenes Updates
What else have I been working on? Quite a bit! I've been busy with back-of-house goodies, sketches for the third book of the ABCs of Grief series, and I am inching closer to wrapping up my own book. Additionally, I've been creating fun chalk art for various clients. This month has been filled with fewer, but larger projects, making my time feel both full and slow in a wonderful way.
Looking Forward
As I promised, this newsletter is short for my sanity. Thanks for following along! I'm excited to see you all in June, where I'll be sharing my annual Ricky birthday card!
Cheers!
xoxo,
Rachel
P.S. I can’t wait to reveal more about my new artwork inspired by travel and life! Stay tuned!
The amount of art and sketches that I was too embarrased to share is ALOT. My sketching phase is messy and blobby and crude and the list goes on. I recall feeling so mediocre in art school when it was time to draw something from scratch rather than a still life. I'd picture it in my brain and then when I went to put pencil to paper I was severly unhappy with the outcome. BUT, over time I realized it did not need to be perfect immediately. I could keep sketching over it and over it again and again until I reached a happy spot. It did't mean I was less worthy than others, but it meant I just had a different process. I don't think it was until the past few years that I have embraced this feeling. I destinctly recall a moment in 2020 where I could not believe how icky one of my sketch attempts made me feel. After being inspired by artist Rebecca Greens sharing of her "uglies" as she calls them, I thought it would be fun to open up my sketch books and art drawers to find some random baddies and random goodies. Let's dig in!
Opening two of the drawers you can see how jam packed they are with artwork. Stacks on stacks on stacks as one might say. There are sketches, finished illustrations, first attempts, swatches, and second attempts. I pulled out some random sketches to share below.
I honestly don't recall what this elephant was for, but clearly I didn't think he was worth showing at the time. Looking at him now, he definitely makes me laugh.
This sketch was an attempt to draw animals without looking at them for reference. They're a bit crude but I do think that was a fun art assignment for myself.
I actually wouldn't consider this a baddie at all, but I forgot about this little astronaut drawing. I believe it was one of my first ones ever!! I was figuring out the style I wanted in my astronaut series and this was one of the attempts.
So, if you recall I wrote the book I'm working on waaaay back in 2017, and at the time I made a few sketches for the charachter and the book. At the time I thought they were awful and I was so overwhelmed by the project that I hit pause for several years. Looking at them now, they aren't bad by any means, but I'm honestly glad I abandoned ship because I really like the art direction now.
Random animals in tubs for my bathroom animal series. I think I was toying with a playful style versus a realistic look and ultimately went realistic.
This random bear and sheep...Very childlike, but ultimately he's cute and playful and I think he may be wearing a swimsuit. The sheep is the opposite direction and (gasp) legless!
Repetitive fox faces and one bear
Two more to go: Random roller skaters and a very sassy girl eating a sammie!
And final sketch share: This may be the winner...an entire page devouted to this "c" shaped line. What was it supposed to be? And why did I decide to move on so quickly?
I truly got a kick out of exploring my sketchbooks and my art drawer. Definitely has reminded me that it's okay to start out rough and likely it's not as bad as I think. I would also argue this is a lovely reminder to not be afraid to jump right in to creating art. Even if its rough at first...ya gotta start somewhere!
I hope you enjoyed this post and I look forward to chatting with you again in May!
xoxo, Rachel
