I actually meant to post this yesterday, but early in the afternoon there were numerous large earthquakes (more info and photos here) and aftershocks which changed my plans. My family and I had been in New Brighton and I was on my way to the library right on the waterfront. There are two sets of steps leading up to the building and I was in the process of walking up the last set when the first quake hit. People began to evactuate the buildings around the area very quickly and then another large shake rocked everything. It was the first time that I had been in a public place for any of the earthquakes and that was in itself was quite disturbing - people everywhere were crying and in shock.
We decided the best plan of action for us was to get home, which turned out to be quite a mission. As we were driving along the roads, we could see liquefaction bubbling up through the concrete and grass. In places, the cars had to drive around large patches of water and sand (and whatever else...) that had spread across the road. At a few of the intersections the traffic lights were not working so that was chaotic, although most drivers were being cautious and accommodating. We eventually made it home and were thankful to see that aside from a few books fallen over on shelves and crooked pictures, there was no damage. Now, back to what I was intending to write about.

I spent most of yesterday morning on my illustrations. I laid them all out on the table to get an idea of how the sequence of the story will flow, adding the two remaining illustrations that I still have to draw.

Then I worked on the illustration that has been sitting on my drawing board for a several weeks. Its not quite completed, but all the difficult parts are done. As yet, I'm not sure what the two remaining images will be - need to sort that out.

While I was fluffing around with the pictures in my folder, I came across this drawing, which is the first pastel portrait that I've ever done. It was drawn from a photograph that I took almost a year ago. Still have some work to do on my technique!