5/30 Zion drawings- portrait of the patriarchs

Just as abundant as hikers in the park are photographers. Professional and hobbiests alike people are taking pictures to capture the beauty of nature and capture the memory of thier experience. 

4/30 Zion drawings- with the ranger

So while I was out hiking the beautiful park, I was gathering reference photos from people I would see along the way. I did this by conspicuously holding my camera in my hand down at my side while people walked by and just snapping away in hopes for a good shot. Also as people walked past I would turn around and take a shot of them walking away from me with the landscape in the background. I would also look for people doing something interesting and hope they didn't notice I was taking pictures in thier general direction. For the most part people had no idea I was photographing them, but every once in a while I felt like I cought someone's eye and they sensed they knew what I was up to. 

Here were some images I gathered of a ranger out talking with visitors about the park. Again I captured these photos while they weren't looking to keep the moment natural. So here is my 4th idea for my print series

3/30 Zion drawings- skirel!

This was one of my favorite moments while I was there in Zion. We were hiking down a pretty easy trail that was paved which ment that a lot of families hike this area. While we hiked I was stopped by this sound "skirel!" (Squirrel) A little girl around the age of 1or 2 was walking with her grandma when she stopped because she saw a squirrel. She pointed excitedly then walked over to it slowly and just watched the squirrel. It was fun to watched this girl connect with nature especially at that time because my wife was pregnant and we were just a few months away from having our little girl. 

2/30 Zion drawing- to the top

Everywhere you look there are hikers in Zion. For native Utah'ns and those from outside the state hiking up the various trails in Zion park is exciting and nerve challenging way to experience nature. There are feelings of thrill and anxiety as you hike up Angels Landing steep rocky trail. 

So here is my new sketch in my series, hiking the steep trail to Angels Landing. 

1/30 Zion drawing- spying on deer

One of the first evenings I was in Zion park, my wife and I were heading out to hike some nearby trail when we noticed a family all crouched behind a fallen log. They were wildly taking pictures of these deer in the woods as though the deer were Hollywood movie stars. I could help but wonder if this was thier first time seeing wildlife up this close. It was funny to see thier excitement and watch then connecting with the park this way. 

...well that didn't last very long....

Not even a week into this challenge and I'm already unmotivated. I know that getting into a habit takes effort and pushing through those times you don't want to do it but here's the thing.  The underlining reason I was doing this challenge was to get myself into the habit of drawing everyday. As I started drawing from the prompts I found I kept asking myself "is this helping me get to where I want to go?" No was my daily response. Yes it was helping me sketch everyday but my biggest pressing project is the Zion residency coming up in March 2015. 

That got me thinking that maybe I should switch gears and focus on drawing my images for that project instead of just random sketches. So now here is my new challenge to myself, 30 drawings in 30 days for my Zion residency. Each day (hopefully) I will post a new drawing for my project, jump-starting me into the carving phase sooner, so that hopefully I can reach my goal of having all my prints printed before January 2015. That gives me 3 months! 

So here I go! I got up this morning and cut all of my Sintra for my prints so that I had the boards all ready to go. And here they are...

10- 8x10

10- 11x14

5- 16x20

5- 18x24

A total of 30 images for my residency show. So let the 30 day Zion residency challenge begin! 

Oh p.s. If your following me or happen to see what I'm working on, leave a comment or share this with others. I like to think that you all are enjoying what I'm doing but it's nice to get some interaction. It will also hold me more accountable if I knew others were watching me and expecting me to get a drawing done everyday. Thanks! 

Day 3/30 drawing challenge

Day 3: an evil monster. 

I thought that after creating a monster from my head one day it would be easier the next. Not really true. But here it is, my evil brain-sucking monster.