Afternoon Sun

Last of these sketches-over-a-photo things… these were fun!

Chipita

Quick pencil sketch that I threw some digital color on also quickly, playing with things I never look at like setting a layer to multiply and different brush types. Also realizing more and more each day that the fact that, digitally, I have to do everything with my right hand on a mouse is massively inefficient and rocky compared to what I could do using my left and a stylus. Being left handed and all. Am considering a tablet.

what kind of birds? nobody knows

I don’t know about those birds, but I did them thinking of my new bird obsession: Chipita.

This (the swan) is Chipita. I was walking around Lake Eola a few weeks ago with a friend when a park ranger (?) on a bicycle comes out of nowhere with this adorable swan following him. He stops and pets her, saying “This is Chipita!” I didn’t manage to get my phone fast enough for a pic; luckily we saw them again by the ranger house (? I’ve no idea) and she was squawking because he went in the house without her, but then he came back out and voila, all was well.

A Year Closer to 30

There’s nothing wrong with being 30, but it’s a little bit of a wake up call to realize that I’ve only got 2 more birthdays until then. I had such a great time at Disney for my birthday (where else?) that I *have* to post about it! Since it’s not art related, in obligatory art news: I sold my first jewelry commission and first international order this week. International shipping is a lot more involved than I thought. Who knew?

As for Orlando…

Lake Eola’s iconic fountain

I brought my 50 mm lens with me…first time I’ve ever brought a decent camera to Magic Kingdom. You can’t zoom (in or out, at all) with this set focal length lens, but it works well for low lighting.

look familiar?

This is the rose from Beauty and the Beast! The Beast’s Castle is a new feature in Fantasyland – basically a lunch/dinner restaurant with 3 rooms to choose from. The rose is in the dark West Wing, complete with thunder sounds and lightning.

We ate in the ballroom which was my favorite:

Talk about chandeliers!

It was even “snowing” outside the windows, which were made to look like night time.

Small World

Above is my favorite room from It’s a Small World. Another scene I like:

They still do the electrical parade with the same music… my mom got me a cassette tape of the music when I was a toddler, and we’d listen to it on every car trip.

Tinker Bell

Alice and Wonderland

dwarves’ gem cart

By the end of the night, we made our way to the front to watch fireworks:

pretty castle detail at night

No Photoshop – the castle was really that blue and the sky that red

Fireworks are the perfect birthday prezzie.

Fluff ‘n Stuff

I’m sure my baby swan obsession is amplified by its being a subcategory of other obsessions – like Orlando and Lake Eola. For a birthday treat to myself, I got to see the baby swans at Lake Eola. I love how swans form family units. The mom leads the babies everywhere, and the dad is around a lot to ward off threats. Very cute.

And of course, it’s not a proper Lake Eola photo post without a shot of the famous swan boats: