A very half-arsed trip report

[motetus]

I would make a boring and terrible travel writer, so my three weeks in the USA are going to summarised in a handful of photos, with minimal droning on. And a couple of sketchbook pages, except those are entirely unrelated to anything I saw on holiday, because I refuse to pretend to be a Proper Artist.

Totally a fresh and original tourist photo of San Francisco.

An adorably froggy at the California Academy of Sciences.

Then we rented a car and drove up highway 1, which was a very pretty drive, despite the heavy rain that started and how the very winding road meant I was demanding PULL OVER OR I PUKE every 15 minutes.

Eventually the rain got so bad that we thought sod it, we're staying indoors and gluing ourselves to the internet all day. Luckily I had bauble to harass keep me company in chat and demand I draw her dodgy pencil things from upcoming chapters of Sex Bucket, so here is Arthur as a hot academic.

Redwoods, sea lions and more rainy beaches from Crescent City (depressing dump of a place, but the surrounding area is gorgeous).

I still couldn't shake off bauble and her incessant demands, so here are more sketchbook pages (so much for my plan of taking it along to draw, um, trees and stuff), this time of a younger student!Eames to match the previous academic!Arthur, and a couple of quick, rather dodgy, photo studies of young Tom Hardy to warm up and get familiar with his stupidly pretty face.

We eventually made it up to Portland, which is a city I like a lot, mostly for the food and how a man can walk down a street with a cat on his shoulder and no-one really gives a shit. I ended up at Powell's, where I bought the only Sutcliff book it had. I already own The Lantern Bearers, but this was the first edition with lots of really lovely ink illustrations, so I couldn't exactly not have it. Here's a copy of Aquila from the first chapter - drawing them out really makes you notice how cleverly the lines flow and curve into each other.

Then it was on to Hawaii, which was... not as bad as I was expecting? The enforced socialising was pretty awkward at first, and I grumbled a bit at staying at a characterless luxury resort which is not my kind of thing at all, but the two mornings we got to escape to go diving were fantastic. I saw green sea turtles, reef sharks, moray eels, octopuses and barracuda. No rays, which was a little disappointing, but there were dozens of humpbacks and their calves around, and it was so cool hearing them sing to each other while underwater. It's going to be hard getting back to Scottish diving after that. :(

Sorry, goblin_dae, I completely failed to get more than one photo of Hawaii for you. If it makes you feel any better, this was the one moment where there was a bit of sunshine and everything looked really pretty. You'll have to go for yourself, but also take me along so I can learn how to surf, yes?

Comments

[bauble]

Lovely photos! That frog makes me laugh every time I see it. Also, it makes me want to poke it.

I've told you this before, but it bears repeating: I love the sketches! Arthur looks so professorial in his adorable glasses and turtleneck and glen-plaid jacket. If I were a student of his, I'd sit all the way at the front of class and leer without subtlety.

And Eames' little pretty face! His adorable outfit! He looks like the kind of student who is constantly up to no good and who succeeds at charming his way out of any consequences that may befall him. I will refer to both sketches constantly as I write dirty roleplay porn deep, meaningful interactions between Arthur & Eames.

It's a good thing you had internet for the trip otherwise you might have died of loneliness without me.

[motetus.livejournal.com]

Heaven knows what sort of wild, terrible things I would have got up to without you to distract me. I could have read a book, or even written a postcard to my mother!

I am so glad you like the sketches! Your description of Arthur in his adorable academic outfit was just too charming to stay locked up in my head for long, and I'm always willing to do things that result in more fic being churned out! No more furries though. No, can't do that again.

[bauble]

Books are overrated, I say. Time better spent drawing porn or entertaining me.

His academic outfit is indeed adorable and impeccably presented (both in the dream and in your sketch)! Once I post that chapter, I will include your drawings as visual aids for readers :D