Something new, something different

Hi folks,

Just finished a new piece and can't wait to share it with the world. (Hello world.)

This piece is part of my children's illustration portfolio. It's meant to accompany a story about fear, visiting new places and a snake.

During the the summer of 2010, I spent 10 days camping and hiking in West Virginia, one specific hike was the inspiration for this drawing. Each day, regardless of where I was, I feared I would run into a snake. Knowing my luck,  the snake would be agitated and definitely poisonous. This black snake was the only snake I saw the whole trip- and it was sound asleep both times I past it on the trail!

The scene includes white oak trees (Quercus alba), sassafras (Sassafras albidum) and a black ratsnake (Elaphe obsoleta). On a side note, rat snakes are the largest snakes in West Virginia. They are constrictors that grow up to 8' long.

Here's a detail... I love putting in the little color pencil marks!

I'm hoping to illustrate a couple more experiences from West Virginia. So, check back for glow worms and a two-lined skink.


Thanks for visiting!
ALQ


Ps. I was very lucky with snakes in WV. One of my Wilderness First Responder colleagues almost stepped on a baby "rattlesnake". Judging by the time of year, it was probably a northern copperhead. yikes!
http://www.marshall.edu/herp/pages/snakes.htm

Where the wildflowers roam...

This spring, I've been invited to display paintings of wildflowers and the desert... at a couple different shows.


Inspired by the light, rocks and flowers, I'm trying some new techniques. The results I'll post here in my blog. My first experiment is Broad-leafed Gilia growing on granite from Anza-Borego NP. In this sketch, I was interested in the light on the leaves and the succulent magenta flower. I used watercolor, touches of gouache and colored pencil. Overall, I like the leaf colors, but I'd like to push the surface of the granitic soil and keep saturating the plant colors...

Ps. Only the earliest wildflowers can be seen right now in the Southern California deserts- the southern part of Joshua Tree NP and along the Palms to Pines Highway. Chuparosa, desert lavender, desert mallow and smattering of belly flowers are in bloom.

The Corpse Flower

Hello and Happy New Year! I've been neglecting my posting duties. It's not for a lack of things to show, either! I want to introduce you to an amazing plant I had the privilege of illustrating at the Huntington Botanic Gardens.

The Amorphophallus titanum or the titan arum or the corpse flower is the largest known inflorescence on Earth. These plants are usually tree-like plants, but on a rare occasion its tuber sends up a massive "flower." During the short bloom (~2 weeks), the red female flowers accept pollen for one day.

After all is said and done, the pollinated female flowers develop into luscious fruits as the rest of the flower parts fall off! That's the story folks! This is one amazing plant. I should also mention that sweat bees and carrion flies transport the pollen from one bloom to another. And, gees, the inflorescence and flowers allegedly smell like death. But, thankfully, they didn't ask me to illustrate that. Thanks for reading and keeping in touch. 

Ps. This is what you typically find in botanic gardens or in the forests of Sumatra:

 

Bouquet of Loveliness (blue hydrangeas, stocks and other stuff from my mom's garden)

This is a study of a flower bouquet that will show up in a portrait of my grandmother.

It's an acrylic painting on four laminated wood blocks. This was my first time experimenting with clear acrylic painting medium.

I like how the yellow/orange from the wood peeks through the translucent acrylic medium.... along with the blue tracing lines. Here's a couple of the blocks in detail.

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Experiments = Nice surprises

CHEERS!

Andrea

Ladybugs in LA!

First of all, happy fall! This is my favorite season here in Los Angeles.

I'm excited to announce the end of my first science illustration internship. Wow! I've learned a lot in the past few months... and I'm happy to post my final project. 

Working with Lila Higgins of the Community Science program at the Natural History Museum, I learned a ton about ladybugs, pill bugs, and spiders. It was the summer of invertebrates! 

These illustrations help identify the local ladybug species. Check out the differences in color, spots, the shapes, and sizes... Hopefully these will encourage an appreciation for nature in Los Angeles. That's the Los Angeles with sidewalks and strip malls- along with the more wild areas of Griffith Park, the LA River and the local mountains. 

These ladybugs will ultimately be printed in a more formal field guide for museum visitors... I'm not sure when it will be published. I'll post when hard copies are available.

    

 I'm already working hard at my next internship at the Huntington Botanic Gardens. The Amorphophallus titanium ... is the subject of one of my first projects! Look this plant up if you don't already know it! It's deeply weird.

Thanks for stopping by! Andrea LQ

Field sketches from Alaska, Denali and the Kenai Peninsula!

I had the privilege of traveling around the towns and wilderness of Alaska these past couple weeks. I was busy drawing, hiking, setting up camp, spying on wildlife and riding trains! 

Our first stop was Denali Nat'l Park. The fall color made the landscapes stunning with contrast- orange shrubs dotted with conifers. Looking closer to the ground, the tundra and taiga was teeming with mosses, lichens, mushrooms and berries. Red squirrels were collecting mushrooms.

Returning on the train to Anchorage, we were treated to visits to the Anchorage Museum and the Alaska Native Arts Foundation. These highlight the art, crafts and household items of villages of the tundra. Swoon. It was also interesting learning about the politics of development, oil and native corporations. 

The train brought us south to the Kenai Peninsula. We spent a few days hiking around the beaches, glaciers and fjords of the Katchemak Bay and Resurrection Bay. The city of Homer housed an amazing art and natural history museum called the Pratt Museum. Their exhibit on boreal birches rocked my socks! This sketch was done in front of the Greywick Glacier.    

        

Sketches, top to bottom, view of the fall taiga from the train, sea turtle skeleton at the Pratt Museum, spruce trees in Denali, and octopus at the SeaLife center:

There were a couple of surprises along the way too! The weather was brillant and mild; it felt like a rainy-er version of the San Francisco Bay Area. Also, with the fall weather and shorter days, the mosquitos were nowhere to be seen. We didn't have to use our mosquito net suits, DEET or Permethrin. 

Thanks for keeping in touch. I'm finishing up my internship with the Community Science program at the Natural History Museum. I'll soon be sharing illustrations of ladybugs, spiders, and pill bugs, oh my!

Desert Travel Journal

Every winter and spring, I try to spend time in the desert.  Here in Southern California.  There's the Mojave and Sonoran deserts.  This year I spent a week in Death Valley.

While this was not a spectacular year for wildflowers, I did visit new places like Ash Meadows Wildlife Refuge (home of the DV and Devil's Hole Pupfish), the uplifted dry lake beds around Zabriskie Point, and Surprise Canyon. One of the highlights of the trip was amargosa toad hunting with one of my illustration heroes, Laura Cunningham, in Beatty, NV.

I've been working on a travel journal and sketches from the trip since I got back in April.  Here are some images I just put the finishing touches on.

These are rocks and artifacts from the abandoned mining community of Panamint City. It includes various volcanic rocks, iron ore and equipment parts. 

This page shows my partner botanizing (searching for botanical wonders) and photographing a rare, Death Valley endemic called Gold-carpet Gilmania. Note that these plants are often referred to as "belly plants," because you have to be lying on your belly to see them.

My final desert inspired piece of the spring was prompted by a run in with a couple burros as we hiked Surprise Canyon. Its a collection of mammals that live through the extremes of the desert- specifically, they are all active during the day. I considered including a coyote and mountain lion, but decided otherwise. I still need to add more contrast to the ground... but that will have to wait.

Well, I've caught up with my spring desert musings.... Next chapter, I move back to Los Angeles and start working with the Citizen Science programs at the Natural History Museum of LA County.

More on that later. Thanks for reading and keeping in touch.