life would slow down as I approached retirement age, and I HAVE felt sort of "powered down" for the last few months, but when I look at what I've been doing, nothing seems to have gotten more leisurely...What are centermost in my thoughts these days are the headwaters of the Amazon, where I am going in December. Being a live-aloner, I like to do something exciting on Christmas and my birthday (just after Christmas) to celebrate, and it seemed like a trip to The Headwaters of the Amazon might fill the bill. So I've been putting aside every penny, no dinners out, no movies, no frills atall-atall, for a long time now, and one by one I'm doing the things on my Bucket List. (Click on images to see a bigger
versions.)But that's not what this blog is about. I'll blog my preparations for the Amazon Journey later (it's a sketch/journaling trip, so I've lots of cool stuff to share about the preparation, just in case you're planning something similar ~ or just interested in how one prepares for something like that!).
And this blog isn't about my Second Annual Art Show and Studio Sale I'm getting ready for, just like the one last year, with hundreds of original illustrations being offered at Fire Sale Prices (gotta get those closets cleared out!) on December 11 and 12 in Ashland, OR.
No, dear friend, this blog is about ways YOU can sketch/journal your winter vacation in the tropics (or anywhere else, for that matter),
with my two new downloadable e-sketchbooks: Costa Rica Jungle & Beach Sketchbook 1 and Costa Rica Jungle & Beach Sketchbook 2! Sketchbook 1 is pretty much the same book I published last year called "Costa Rica Feb. '08." So if you bought that one then, skip #1 of this pair. But you probably didn't, because it had such a boring-looking cover and ho-hum title that few people were tempted to even check it out. I can hardly blame them. I'll be interested to see if the new cover and title turn out to be more fetching.Anyway, I added the companion e-sketchbook, #2, which I had
created the following July at El Remanso Lodge on the Osa Peninsula. It's full of my jungle/beach sketching adventures, in ballpoint pen and watercolor pencil. The differences you encounter between wet and dry seasons (in vegetation, climate, animals, flowers, EVERYTHING) are amazing.These are scrumptious sketchbooks, full of interesting sketching subjects and journal descriptions, plus lots of ideas you can put to use in your own sketch journals. Neither one has a tutorial, which has kept the price WAY down there at $6.95. I hope you'll go take a look.
This is just a short post to alert you to the publication date (today!). I'll be blogging again within the next week or so with more big news.
till then,
Irene
