Art Inspired by my Travels
- Rachel Nieman
- Jun 3
- 3 min read
Happy June, my Jubilant Jellyfish!!!
I hope you all have been basking in the sun (with sunscreen) and getting some much-needed vitamin D! (with loads of water!!)
If you recall, last month I went on a wonderful cup-filling trip to Sedona, Arizona for hiking and adventure. It was such a breath of fresh air kind of trip and it was so inspiring, seeing the Red Rock mountains, the cacti, the trees, the hiking boots, and so on!!
Everywhere I looked, I could see beautiful views, and when I got back to Houston, I was so inspired to draw! On one hike in particular, there was a man searching for Bigfoot. He even asked if we had seen a sasquatch. While I did laugh, Bigfoot is ever the symbol of wanderlust for me. He or She lives off the land, is always searching, and is always adventuring. We also had my sweet Leonora with us, and I, of course, decked her out in adventure tees, so I think the vibes were on my mind.
Soooooo....I decided to create some big foot and hiking illustrations in the hope of creating a pattern or art print.
When I start sketching it always starts a little rough and weird, usually with a list in tote.
I started with big foot. I was first trying to figure out what the vibe should be. But then determined it was best for me to draw them all.
Then I moved on to drawing some camping and hiking gear inspired by our trip. I rattled off a cactus, a tree, boots, a backpack, a tent, my Nalgene bottle, and more.
Pulling from the beautiful colors of the area! I'm thinking about going with greens, oranges, and burnt sienna colors!
I truly can't decide what route to go, so why not do them all! Outlined, pencil vibes, block coloring, and hoping to do a watercolor version next.
Moving onto the big foots - I created them in the same vibes as the objects: line, pencil, and block
I'm still finishing up the final one in the gallery above before I move on to a painted version.
The crux of being an indecisive person means I can't always decide which route to take an illustration. The blessing with this design is its all play and no particular deadline, so I can create them all if I have the patience (tall order for me!).
Sharing a few final Sedona pics below from a truly magical trip! Keep scrolling to see
If you ever get the chance to go to Sedona I highly recommend! It gets very warm in the summer so spring and winter are great times to go!
I guess it's time for me to wrap this post up. I'll of course share the finished artwork when I have it ready, but I hope you enjoyed taking a peek behind the curtain of my design process from inspiration to sketches and doodles!
I will see you all soon,
xoxo
Rachel
