I'm Back!

My apologies for not having blogged for the last few weeks. Yesterday I returned from a 2 and a half week trip to Israel. It was an unbelievable experience! I'm still processing everything I saw and did. It's going to take me awhile to sort through everything going on inside of me, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and artistically. Since this is an art blog, I will try to focus more on the artistic part, however it all connects and overlaps, so I will probably have to include a little of everything. Artistically, it was a difficult and frustrating trip because there really wasn't a lot of time to draw or even sketch because we were constantly busy. However, I did take loads of pictures and was very inspired by the landscape and sites I saw. Hopefully I will keep the inspiration and pull some ideas from my experiences there.

In the mean time, I have lots to do, including sending out my first batch of postcards! Hopefully I will have some ideas from the trip sketched out soon, and some finished drawings of sketches done before I left. In the mean time, enjoy some of the sites I saw in Israel!


Hey, that's me in front of the Dome of the Rock! We were asked to cover our heads when entering the site.


The West Wall/Wailing Wall. There were maybe ten Bar Mitzvahs going on while we were there.


In the Garden of Gethsemane. I love the olive trees there. This was one of my favorite places.


Visiting a Palestinian refugee camp and the wall that was built around it. It was very heart breaking to see.


The Jordan River. I had the opportunity to be baptized in the river. A wonderful experience!


The Sea of Galilee (which is actually a lake!) We got to swim in it as well as ride in a boat on it. Also, one of my favorite places.

Mountain Man Sketch

There was an Old Man with a beard,
Who said, 'It is just as I feared!
Two Owls and a Hen,
Four Larks and a Wren,
Have all built their nests in my beard!
-Edward Lear

Here's another sketch of an idea for a new portfolio piece. It was inspired by a limerick I read by Edward Lear, an English artist, illustrator, author, and poet, known for his literary nonsense, in poetry and prose, and especially his limericks, a form that he popularised. I could read them all day!

The illustration will have a little more scenery in the background (mountains, because he's a mountain man!) but it'll be more of a character study than a full illustration. I'm thinking about doing this one in charcoal so I can have some black and white drawings in my portfolio, but I might do a color version and a charcoal version if I really like it!


UPDATE: See the Final version here!

Pearl Diver Sketches

I've been thinking about some new pieces to put in my portfolio to add some variety and to make sure I'm covering all my bases. I've noticed I need more pieces showing action, children (I seem to do a lot of animals...at least lately), and maybe some humor. So I've decided to revisit an old illustration (below) from my digital illustration class that I think can be improved. I've grown a lot since then and being able to do it traditionally will help. So here's an initial sketch, value study, and color study of the revised version. Something I need to work on is the environment. It's not very unique or interesting yet, but it's still just a sketch!

Redesigned Website!

I finally finished my website and it is now up for all to view! Take a look, enjoy, give suggestions for improvement, and let me know of any problems you see. Lauren Gallegos

So, business cards have been ordered, website is done, next on the list is to order postcards!