Memphis

a polaroid from the zoo 

Hi everyone. Been a while, huh? It's golden hour outside my cozy dorm room windows and I felt like it was high time to sit down and revisit the Roost. Fall is finally here and it's actually been getting a little chilly here... BUT ENOUGH about the weather. On with the post. No big thoughts or theories for this one - I've just come back from a daytrip to Memphis and wanted to share some moments and art from the journey. Seeing as my post about Mammoth Cave remains one of my most popular, I guess you guys must like hearing about my little excursions - so I'll oblige :)

One of the most delightful surprises about being an RA (and there have been surprisingly many) is the wonderful community of RAs here at Lipscomb - all very decent and kind-hearted people. It's been a nice change of pace to hang out with friends who aren't art folks, and a good challenge to come up with conversation topics that don't involve Photoshop brushes and color gradients (which is more my cup of conversation tea, but whatever). And with new friends comes new experiences - Secret Hitler, Sonic, and most recently Memphis. One of my RA friends really wanted to see the Memphis Pyramid, and although I hold no particular love for pyramids, I always love a good excuse to get excited (and travel). So off we went! The long car rides there and back were actually a favorite part of the trip - lots of good music and laughter. Our first stop in Memphis was the zoo, a very good choice in my (slightly biased) opinion.

friends.

I've recently been very inspired by Noah Klocek's Inktober drawings - they have such a pleasant looseness that isn't rhythmic nor overworked. A scribbly of the best sort, and perhaps a good inspiration for storyboard sketches. I had this in mind when doing my zoo sketches, since I wanted to draw loose and fast and not keep my friends waiting. Few things are more tedious than watching someone struggle to draw a foreleg just right. I think this pressure/speed was actually really helpful because it challenged me to try new methods, worry less, and not overwork things. Of course, like a newbie chef I did overcook this one a little...

And speaking of chefs, did I mention that I've recently started cooking things? Now that I have space in my dorm for a fridge and pantry, I've dabbled in baking - a therapeutic and rewarding act of making. But I digress - here's a couple more drawings, these more inspired by Louie Zong:

By this time in the day we were very hungry and ready for some Memphis barbecue. Afterwards we visited the art museum, and drove by Graceland (while listening to Paul Simon's Graceland). As the sun was setting, we finally arrived at our ultimate destination - the Bass Pro Pyramid. Replica of an Egyptian religious monument, built as a stadium, now a temple to all things bass and pro. Only in America. The place was incredible, the scale gigantic. There was just so much in there - hotel, restaurants, boats - all around a man made swamp (though swamp in the loosest of terms, there was no peat and minimal bog-iness, to my disappointment). The view from the top was the perfect end to our day in Memphis, just watching the sun fade away over the Mississippi River. And then we drove back, listened to Sriracha at least two more times, and went to Waffle House. What a day! 

Of course now I've completely run out of time to talk about Hutchmoot and everything else that's happened in the last month, but I trust that this is enough vacation stories for now! Just be glad I didn't pull out the slideshow. It's crazy to think that we're already so far into the semester! Since I don't have midterms in my art classes it's easy to forget exactly how far we've come. But this year's going by fast and I'm already starting to think about The End (of college). But now that I think about it, I've kinda been dreaming/stressing about future life for at least a year already, so what else is new?

Hope this post finds you well, bloggerfriends -
dh