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Industrious Illustrating #53 – Life Drawing 5

Robin Leave a comment

Hello, and welcome back to another week of Industrious Illustrating! This week’s update is a little brief, since I’m just recapping the trip I took to the La Brea Tar Pits Museum in Los Angeles over winter break. When I was there I took the opportunity to draw some of the fossil skeletons on display to better understand the construction of animal bodies, as I hadn’t seen some of these skeletons in real life before and I want to make more creature/scientific illustrations in the future.

Something interesting about my trip there was that there was a glass windowed viewing area to look at scientists at work cleaning fossils recovered from the “tar” pits (which are actually filled with liquid asphalt!), and there were a few informational plaques and displays sitting on the windowsill ranging from excavated bugs and microshells to stuffed animals of the animals most commonly found in La Brea. There was also a scientific illustrator on staff (who I assume drew the lovely drawings on some of the plaques) who was actively working on a scientific illustration on their iPad when I was visiting. I especially enjoyed the puppet of the now-deceased mountain lion P-35, as I’d just read about his story in the excellent book “Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet”.

All in all, my visit to the La Brea Tar Pits left me feeling more inspired and motivated than before. While I doubt I’ll pursue scientific illustration as a full-time career, I still want to explore different subject matter I find interesting as much as I can so that my work will be versatile and never grow stale or predictable. And of course, there’s no need to travel far from home to do so — even back in Ann Arbor there’s several resources such as the Natural History Museum, the Leslie Science & Nature Center, and the Creature Conservancy that all have skeletons or live animals on display to see and understand in real life.
That’s all for this week! What would you guys like to see me discuss next week? Let me know!

Observer: The City

zbn Leave a comment

In the midst of Ann Arbor’s serene streets, my thoughts often drift to the bustling urban landscape of New York City – the metropolis that shaped my upbringing. The city’s dynamic energy, the vibrant tapestry of cultures, and the ceaseless rhythm of life are constants in my reminiscences. From the iconic cityscape to the endless possibilities hidden within its neighborhoods, New York holds a unique allure. The memory of late-night escapades, the savor of authentic pizza, and the unmistakable urban pulse linger as a testament to a place where every corner tells a story.

When I’m sitting at my desk in the morning

Mattie Grace Levy Leave a comment

Daija just died yesterday

Danielle can’t see her face in all the paint

My mother and I don’t know what to say

Each day it’s harder to wake 

While Tabs, papers, and links fill my desk

The sun is the only one who fills me in the warring

Generations of expectations and no money to shop

With your tasks there is no time for mourning

All I want is to water my plants now

When scrolling I know I would rather my pain

In all that I’ve heard I just don’t know how

To live knowing some are worth just a word       

The sky turns grey but there is no change

Answers may come with age

S3 Scribble #11: These Days

Sydney Braun Leave a comment

“All the people gather, fly to carry each his burden,”

I’m back in Ann Arbor and having a very eventful start to the semester! I have had a shocking lack of free time after an incredibly relaxing and low-commitment winter break, but after submitting my grad school applications and settling into the new semester, I am looking forward to more relaxation time in the near future.

“We are young despite the years,”

Winter break was very rejuvenating for me. It was phenomenal to spend some quality time with my family after not being home very often for the past year. It also gave me the opportunity to once again listen to some albums from my parents’ CD collection. For years, my mom has raved to me about R.E.M.’s Lifes Rich Pageant, but it wasn’t until this winter break that I was able to fall in love with the album and recognize it as the masterpiece it is.

“We are concerned, we are hope despite the times,”

As a young person with hopes of changing the world and contributing to a more just and equitable society, I feel inspired by the songs on the album – songs about a desire to stay hopeful and be a part of positive change. Even though the album was released in 1986, the messages of many songs are still relevant today. “These Days” is just one of them. I encourage anyone who feels as if they are losing hope for a better future to listen to this album, because we must stay hopeful when working toward a better world.

“All of a sudden, these days, happy throngs, take this joy,”

The album makes me feel hopeful, of course, but it also makes me feel a special connection to my mom, since I know it is one of her favorites. For me, music often serves as a connector – connecting me to important people, places, and moments throughout my life. With its hopeful and passionate messages coupled with the association that I make between the album and my mom, I am thrilled to have discovered Lifes Rich Pageant this winter break and I look forward to turning to it throughout the semester whenever I need a pick-me-up.

“Wherever, wherever you go.”

Listen to These Days by R.E.M. here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vgEWp7Voyk

Wolverine Stew: Building Sunsets

clydemg Leave a comment

I shed my many skins to get to me

The sky is made of crows returning to warmth

The horizon like rainbow sherbet back home

Metal and glass holding puzzles of bone

Jutting across the landscape like mountains

I bounce along to the static singing in my ears

Music is deep water, and I’d like to sink beneath the waves

Cheers and laughter and dancing rushing around you

Rockets carve twin-tailed clouds across the atmosphere

Lamplight tells you the stars will be here soon

And the cold will sit alongside you

As the sun sinks behind the earth

aSoSS 10 | Recover

a-spider-on-state-street Leave a comment

You waiting for the bus?

Oh yeah. Where else would I spend my time?

Couzens Hall, 9:00AM, 1/11/2024

procrastination — otherwise known as the human condition — extends to the nature of the weather. leave it to the start of a semester for the heavens to open. salt crystals cling to boots like cooked rice grains. a child scatters frozen nuts in hopes that they will bloom in the spring. she forgets the squirrels are on break, too. some of them will not survive the winter. you tiptoe and your feet crunch into dust, blue snow into black ash.

No school Monday?

Yeah, they just got off break and now they’re going back on break. Mucho break.

Hibachi-San, 12:00PM, 1/12/2024

the clock is stuck in a traffic jam, inching forward slowly, steadily. it will go forty-five in the fast lane and trap you behind a veil, if you’re not careful. check your rearview and suddenly it disappears. when we are not aware, we become uncomfortable, swollen, like a rat that has eaten insulation. i follow your gaze ahead, to the monotony, the beauty of the crowd. one must live in the moment. to be half of two things is to be whole of none.

Do you want to go to the Victors parade? The football team will be there!

Will there be candy?

I don’t think so—

Then no.

Ann Arbor Coffee Roasting Company, 3:00PM, 1/13/2024

there are moments where the world rotates one-dimensionally. time and space funnel into a line. the parade swings past, and you are no longer next to me. we are one entity, a collection, a singularity, drawn to the crowd, to the players. any less and i lose you in the crowd and someone catches you as you fall — your eyes lock, a circuit complete, diodes shining. any further and you end up in front of the bus — whether or not it stops in time is trivial. in one dimension, there are no decisions.

luckily, we live in a world with three. left, right, forward. the sun is still out, but bright blue stars sparkle on state street.