Cutest 17-month-old in the world

So, River got this cute summer outfit (or two or three). And I thought this one in particular would be perfect for her eighteen month old pictures. But then I couldn't wait, and one thing led to another, and now I have these lovely pictures of the cutest 17-month-old named River that lives in my house. Now the only dilemma I have is deciding what to hang on the wall, because they're all so cute!
Which do you like? (You can click on them to see them bigger.)

The one good close-up. Aww.

I think I like the ones in this group the best.

 In these she's not smiling at the camera, but she's still aDORable. Especially in the angry one on the top left.

 None of these next ones are that great for display- too much background stuff in them - but she was funny. I was trying to get her to hold the clover but she kept throwing it in the grass. The two on the right are the only two where she had them in her hands.

Finally,  I love the bottom two where she was showing me her teeth. And her pose in the top one is sweet.

By the way, do you like the bench Joseph made? We have two of them.

Joshua and Miyazaki

 I just finished a fun project involving markers, Joshua, and one of my favorite photographs. Yay! I'd been looking for a project that would work well with art markers; I haven't done anything with them since shortly after River was born. I also had been looking for the perfect picture to add to my collection of portraits done in color and graphite, like these two done in previous years:

This new one was a little different in format, and I didn't completely decide to draw Joshua in pencil until the end. I ultimately decided he'd look good in monochrome pencil to contrast with all of the bright colors behind him. This photo has been hanging on my wall for about a year, and I love looking at it every night. My favorite thing about the photo was the way the big blue flower draws your eye, and how the large piece of red/yellow wall paper near the center of the picture contrasts with it. Some of the designs on this drawing ended up looking bolder than they do in the photo, so I don't think it carries the same contrast as the photo, but it has plenty of other things I love about it.
I especially love the unfinished portion of his pants, and wonder if it would have looked good to leave even more unfinished.

I really had fun figuring out how to depict the different kinds of wall paper, especially when I didn't have the exact right colors. For instance, this one on the left involved coloring everything with white, then using a skin color to make that weathered background tone. And the one to the right of it is a gold marker with orange smeared into it.

 Speaking of gold marker, this was the first time I got to use my gold and silver oil paint markers. They came in a set with a white marker I needed for this other project in 2014, and I didn't require them at the time:

Anyway, the gold marker was cool! It really was shiny and metallic when it dried, even though it doesn't show up as well in a reproduction or photo, but you can kind of see it at this angle:

One decision I did make at the last minute, was to color Joshua's hair red. I'm not sure it was the best decision, as it looked good in pencil too. The other two portraits above had a touch of color in the hair, but I left them mostly monochrome. I decided to color it because another thing I love about the photo is the brightness of his red hair going so well with all of the designs behind him. I'm not sure it works as well in the drawing, but what's done is done!
Also, I should mention I used his face from a different photo; in the photo with this background he's just prosaically smiling, but I liked this expression much better.



I think I might call this drawing, "Joshua and Miyazaki", because the t-shirt he's wearing portrays most of Miyazaki's most famous films. This was another thing I waited to decide; I wasn't sure if it might look better with just a plain dark shirt, but ultimately I kept the shirt graphics because they're a big part of what I like about the photo.

The one thing that bothers me a bit is that his hands look awkwardly drawn. Really, they look weird in the photo too because of the odd angle the camera was to his body. I probably should have reshot a picture of his hands for reference. Other than that, I think in the end it turned out pretty good!

South Dakota Cemetery

 The other day, Elora, River and I stumbled upon the local cemetery! I'd always known what direction it was (vaguely) but had never seen it before. I remembered the times we enjoyed walking around the Logan cemetery, (click on the link to read the post about it) and observing all of the stories and interesting headstones that displayed the history of the area.
This cemetery isn't nearly as large and grand as that one, but I happened to have my camera with me, so we decided to do some exploring. There were no giant statues or sculptures, but it is interesting to see the similarities and differences in the styles of headstones between here and other places.
There were the regular, plain headstones, of which most seemed more simple than those in Utah:

I like the cursive writing on this one

We found a few that looked just like Utah headstones, except for the notable absence of the list of children on the back. When I searched for them, I found a few stones that listed posterity at the bottom on the front, but not one listed the kids on the back like the ubiquitous listings in Cedar City and Logan. River liked these ones that were covered in beds of white rocks (there were several). My theory is that it was probably in kindness to the visiting family: this may look like nice green grass, but there were small cacti hidden in the lawn every foot or so! I got pricked once or twice myself while taking pictures.





The most common adornments on the local headstones were horses (of course) and the brands the family uses on their cattle. Seriously, they have displays of these brands all over town, it's quite the popular decor.

















And the next most popular display was Masonic symbols. I guess everyone who's anyone is a Mason in these parts. (This is two different pictures put together; every time I look at it my eye puts it all together as one picture.)

I always like to look for the more unique headstones too, and decide which one I would like if I had to choose one. I decided this one was probably my favorite out of all the "regular" headstones. I like the butterflies, and love the scalloped irregular edges. Good choice, Doris!

 

There were several rough-hewn headstones, cut from granite and left more in their natural shape except for the flat, engraved side. These were neat too, though harder to read.

 


Then there were the truly unique-to-the-area stones. Remember the petrified wood park that Joseph and I visited in March, up in Lemmon? Well, apparently the pink quartz and petrified wood also served well as headstones! These were so cool; they remind me of the Rock Church in Cedar City. Each design differed somewhat, but they all consisted of fancy rocks held onto the stone with some kind of cement, and a small metal plaque denoting the grave's occupant. Also, they all seem to be dated around the 1930's and 40's, the same era when the place in Lemmon was built. Talk about American ingenuity in the midst of the Depression.

This one is my favorite.

 

 

Jonah likes this one best, because there are so many rocks

This one has a parent's grave, and two children.

I also found several of these small markers, and I'm not sure if they mark the resting place of unnamed children, or if they used to show a fence boundary or something, because they were somewhat regular in their placement:





After walking the whole cemetery (again, not that big) I decided this was the fanciest headstone. I wondered if it was completely carved of this white stone, or if it was only a layer of white over a different stone? Very pretty, either way.

 And like many cemeteries, this one also had a pretty view of the surrounding area.

River in the kitchen

Here is a new drawing I just finished of River in the kitchen! I took the picture several months ago, and something about the scene really appealed to me. The combination of colors, the baby's smiling face, or maybe just my favorite curtains mixed with the baby. That's right, you've seen these curtains before.

You might recognize them from this drawing from around 2011,

 Or maybe from the lefthand side of this fun drawing in 2013,

or this one done later that same year.

It's true, my favorite bedroom curtains are now my favorite kitchen curtains. But what else can you do if the kitchen is already painted yellow and blue when you move in, right?

Anyway, it's a cute backdrop for a cute baby, even with the dirty (yet pretty) dishes in between.

What I like about it: the colors, the style, the curtain pattern, the dishes in front of her face. What I don't like: the layout of the dishes behind her, and the angle of the tiles.