This morning we hiked up Stonewall Peak which I totally recommend. It’s about two miles each way if you go straight up and back, and it’s an easy hike (almost all of the many hikers we saw involved small kids, which is rare for most of the hikes we take) with a fabulous view at the top. Naturally we took a side road back down which some random book had told us would only be half a mile longer although my glance at a map earlier had me suspecting that was a tad short. We ended up hiking a bit over 5 miles total, which is a great way to spend late morning and early afternoon.

While we were near the peak, we stopped for a bit and Christy took a few minutes to sketch out:

Yeah, she’s good.

In related news we’ve had a number of friends inquire about where we hike, so we’re thinking about getting together groups of people maybe once a month or so for a hike. Our first will probably be next Sunday, so if you’re in the area feel free to join us! Our downstairs neighbor will probably come along and maybe a few other friends and we’re actually thinking about doing this same hike again (probably straight up and back, without the bonus detour). Christy and I have really been enjoying exploring the greater San Diego area and it will be fun to hit some of our favorite hikes again with some of our favorite people!

This is the first one she’s done that wasn’t about people. Instead, she took pictures of the lilies around our apartment complex through the winter, and then based the sketch on those. It’s pretty fun, and she knocked it out from scratch to finish this afternoon!

Zombie Hands! Otherwise known as: one of many reasons joint pain sucks.

A detail shot:


Finally, a shot of Christy modeling after the sketch was done:

A zoomed in shot, showing some of the detail:

I added another version, taken in the sun, after the jump.

Another shot, this one taken in the sun to show better detail:

All that being said, I hacked together what kind of time lapse I could. This shows the process from poorly assembled, stock canvas, through disassembly, rebuilding and painting. We hope you enjoy it.

and then she finished it up, added a signature, and the thing is finished. In reality this took her maybe ten sessions total, which seems like working at light speed to me. I’ll have a time lapse version of all of these posted in the near future. For now, enjoy the finished product:

There’s more art to come (she did another piece the other weekend), but for now we hope you’ve enjoyed watching it come together!

Without a flash:

With a soft flash:

This second picture is a bit dim, I’m afraid. Still, you can see she’s adding in shadows and lighting effects:

Christy has been excited to work on the martini glass, especially the bright blue (Magellan) martini. The concept of painting vibrant liquids with oil paints hurts my brain a little, but even her early “sketching” is looking great.