Desert for Dessert

Through recent discussion with fellow swamped illustrators, the topic of experimentation surfaced. I seriously couldn't remember the last time I sat down and just drew... whatever I wanted. After a mildly frustrating day, I took a long walk/hobble with what is left of the knee, and decided that tonight, I am having my metaphorical piece of cake. And it was wondrous! I sat down and started just drawing. A favorite pastime of years ago was to draw off the top of my head while watching random documentaries on television. It's great, every time you look up, you see beautiful scenery or nutty creatures, and while you are busily sketching, you listen to all the fun facts and new words to file away in your memory for the next family match of trivial pursuit. Tonight, I watched probably the most beautifully directed photography I have ever seen in documentaries. I HIGHLY suggest Discovery Channel's Planet Earth Series. More than five years in the making, this series chronicles all the world's regions, temperatures, creatures, and challenges, and it is soooooo pretty. It's on my wish list now.

So the following image was a product of tonight's break from all things not art directed by myself.