Author Archives: RyanMcGurl

Instagram, February 2017

As you can see, I did some hiking this month, mostly on the Neusiok Trail. I’ll do some more on that in a separate post.

I’ve been working on a new sock pattern, I’m almost done knitting them so I can write and post the pattern to ravelry, hopefully by the end of this week.

Lots of pictures of my dogs. Panzer had his semi annual vet appointment this week hes doing really well. The vet told us he wishes all 10 year olds he see were this healthy. I think its because the younger dogs keep him active and playful. And we actually walk our dogs everyday, I’m convinced thats the reason my husky lived to be 16 and was pretty healthy for all but his last 6 months.

We did lose a chicken. When they were out in the yard a hawk killed one. So the ladies have been stuck in there coop for the last few weeks. I’ll start letting them out again in the spring, when there is more food around and the ladies wont be such a target.

Towards the end of the month my bulbs started flowering. I’ve been really missing winter, probably because I see everyone’s pretty snowy pics on instagram, but I’m over it and so glad spring is here!

Hidden Falls at Hanging Rock State Park

This is a photo I took in October 2015, at Hanging Rock State Park, here in North Carolina. I had a great day, taking a few short hikes with Panzer and Sasha, but I wasn’t very happy with my photos. I had intended to photograph the waterfalls surrounded by autumn foliage, but nature just wasn’t cooperating. The leaves were not at peak color yet and I’m not sure if it would have made much of a difference anyways, the rhodadendrons around the falls would have stayed green. But I was so proud of myself for using a long exposure to give the water that beautiful gauzy effect. And its a very pretty waterfall and I was happy with the compostition, just not the colors. It took me over a year to settle on the obvious solution, change it to black and white. And now I love it!

I’m not sure “Hidden Falls” is the best name for this waterfall. There is a very clearly marked, relatively easy trail from the parking lot to the river.

In my sketchbook: Magnolia

Last year I started a magnolia illustration in Adobe Illustrator, but I wasn’t happy with how it was coming along, so I put it aside for awhile. Recently I decided I’m ready to go back to it, so I started a preliminary study in my sketchbook.

First, a pencil drawing, to get the rough shapes in place.

Next, I traced an outline in pen and started adding color.

Finished adding color. I’ve used Prismacolor markers in the past, but I tried these ones from Windsor and Newton and was really happy with the result. They are very pigmented, and give good even, non streaky coverage and blend easily. They are also slightly less expensive than the Prismacolors.

My finished sketch. I really love this, and hopefully, I will soon have a finished digital illustration based on this sketch to share.