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Inktober is Drawing Near!

by Free Spirit Meg, posted in Artist Inspiration, Sketchbook

I am looking forward to Inktober this year. I had a lot of fun with it last year. I followed the Inktober prompts as well as my own theme. Each sketch was from a horror/monster movie. This year I am thinking about doing something similar. I enjoy sticking with a horror theme to get geared up for Halloween! I have started a list of legendary monsters that I think I will stick to this year. Although, I do have another idea that I might change to at the last minute.

The official prompt list has been released and a lot of the prompts tie in with my legendary monsters so that will make things easier. Although it is always fun to try and come up with a creative idea that relates to the prompt.

This will be my fourth year participating in Inktober. Here are a few of my favorite sketches from previous years.

It’s nice to compare my work and see how I have improved over the years and also areas where I could still improve. It’s all about getting better, right? Practice makes perfect!

If you want to check out more, here are my previous posts related to Inktober. Inktober 2016 | Inktober 2017 ~ Part 1 & Part 2 | Inktober 2018

Are you participating in Inktober this year? What are your plans or thoughts? Leave a comment below! Or share a photo of your own sketches! Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time, free spirits!

“Ink is the transcript of thought.” ~Alphonse De Lamartine

Day 1: Ohio Trip

by Free Spirit Meg, posted in Megtography, Photo Journal, Travel

Here’s a few pictures I’ve taken with my phone since we have arrived. It’s been a chill visit so far. We went for a nice bike ride, visited my brother and his family and ate dinner at Chipotle’s. I have more pictures on my Nikon but I won’t be able to share those until after I get back.

Country Roads Take Me Home

by Free Spirit Meg, posted in FSM Updates, Travel, Work In Progress

I have this entire week off for vacation. I am pumped. I have needed a good break like this to rejuvenate myself in more ways than one. Besides working vigorously on my art and cleaning my house to the core, I am taking a much needed trip to Ohio to visit my family.

As always, expect a lot of pictures. I have a new lens that I haven’t been able to play with yet and it’s eating away at me! I need to try it out and this week will be the perfect opportunity.

I have a few pieces in the works. I have a realism piece of an otter, a zentangle of a sloth and a mini canvas painting. I will have to finish them when I get back but they are all coming along nicely.

Check back soon for more artwork and photography! Hope you’re enjoying the Summer! It’s been a busy one!

Stay sunny, free spirits!



~Totem Animal art by Free Spirit Meg~

Find your own totem animal in the shop!

Prints and Products Available here!



W.I.P. Slumbering Sloth

by Free Spirit Meg, posted in Work In Progress, Zentangle Inspired Art (ZIA)

I’m starting my next piece and I’m giving in to this sloth obsession that has been going on. It seems like every year their is a strange animal that people go “ga-ga” over! This year is the sloth, I guess. Perhaps it’s one of those “you’re so ugly, you’re cute” kind of thing? Or is it their slow, calm and chill attitude? Whatever it may be, I’ve decided to try my hand at a sloth.

This is my rough sketch. I don’t think sloths really sleep like this but I wanted to play off of their lazy-like appearance. I’ve been really tired lately between work, family, summer activities and staying up later than I probably should. When I look at this, I can just imagine taking a nap in the trees with a nice, cool breeze. That would be the life, am I right? I think it’s safe to say we have all been there.

I have some of the ink done. This piece has a lot of patterns in it naturally so incorporating them will be fun! I also can’t wait to start the color. I don’t typically incorporate backgrounds for my totem pieces but this one definitely called for it. The leaves will be neat to create and green is one of my favorite colors to work with.

I hope you enjoyed the work in progress of my Sloth Totem. Check back soon to see the finished piece! What do you think about sloths? Cute and chill? Or Ugly and Freaky? Leave a comment below and let me know what you think?

Pleasant Dreams, Free Spirits!

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~Totem Animal art by Free Spirit Meg~

Find your own totem animal!

Prints and Products Available @ Redbubble!

Turtle Totem Finished Piece

by Free Spirit Meg, posted in Traditional Art

This piece was a challenge. I do not know why though. It was not fluid. I never really found a flow to the drawing. Usually I know what I want to do just by looking at it. Not this time. I had no idea what I wanted to incorporate of how I wanted to execute it. Perhaps a small bit of it was that I am still learning how to use the watercolor pencils. It takes time and practice. I know this but it is still frustrating when something doesn’t look the way you want it to.

I feel like I could have added a lot more detail with my ink work also. I have noticed that I have slowly slipped away from adding pointillism to my pieces to incorporate shadows. In my earlier drawings, I used this technique frequently. I should have used it with the turtle to allow it to blend more and become more real.

Although, I encountered a problem with my pens. The ink from the pen activated the watercolor pencil on the paper, therefore, it gets gunk on the tip of my pen and stops working. I thought it would be easy to add the ink after the color but it doesn’t really work. Maybe I should try doing the ink first and then use the watercolor pencils. Or else I will have to try a different type of pen.

I also grew very bored and tired of the piece. I had so many other ideas that had popped in my head that I would have rather been doing. I should have just abandoned the piece and came back to it later. I think the end result would have been better. I was just in a rush to finish it by the end. I was ready to move on. This definitely did not help the outcome.

It is not my best work but it is far from my worst. I still like the whimsical feel of this turtle. I really enjoy the smile and added that feature for a good reason. The reason I wanted to draw the turtle in the first place was because of an incident that recently happened to me. I was driving down the road with my brother in law and we saw a snapping turtle trying to cross the road. It had almost been hit a handful of times so we pulled over to rescue it. It was challenging trying to move it without getting snapped at but we were successful and got the turtle to the other side with the help of another driver passing by. We felt like super heroes and referenced a funny quote from one of our favorite TV shows, Futurama. “I saved a turtle today. What have you done with your life?” I was thrilled to be able to save the turtle and wanted to create this design to go with the phrase.

Have you saved any turtles lately? Share your story in the comments below! I would love to hear more success stories about our turtle friends! If you like this piece, you can find this and others in my shop at Redbubble!

Thanks for stopping by!

Take care, free spirits!

Horse of a Different Color

by Free Spirit Meg, posted in Free Spirit Merch

I’ve had some of these beauties hiding in a folder on my computer and decided it was time to share them with the world! I have literally gone horse crazy with my Horse Totem drawing (originally done in colored pencil). I’ve been wanting to get better with my photoshop skills and in the near future would like to get a digital drawing tablet. Yes, the digital age has finally grabbed me. So here are some designs I’ve created for horses of a different color! Which one is your favorite?

Find prints, apparel, home decor and more by clicking the links below!

Purple: rdbl.co/2FZ2n1N
Pink: rdbl.co/30p9ybz
Green: rdbl.co/2RYxPSR
Yellow: rdbl.co/2L5YoEP
Blue: rdbl.co/2V4ddsW
Orange (Plain Background): rdbl.co/2UVeRx0
Orange (Pattern Background): rdbl.co/2NDsrWM

NYC – Mariott Marquis & Time Square

by Free Spirit Meg, posted in Photo Journal, Travel

The hotel we stayed in, the Marriot Marquis, was located in the center of Time Square. It was a busy area, by far! There was so much going on, so many lights, people, buildings, advertisements, honking taxis, pushy bus tour guides….the list goes on. It was a lot to take in. The hotel was very nice and very large with at least 20 elevators in the center. There were so many patterns throughout the hotel. If I had more time, I would have brought my sketchbook and doodled a little!

NYC – The Arrival

by Free Spirit Meg, posted in Photo Journal, Travel

There were a lot of firsts when we arrived in New York City. To reach our hotel, we had to ride the subway and then walk a few blocks. I had never ridden the subway before. It is crazy how fast they are! There was a lot to take in while we headed to our hotel. I wanted to take so many pictures, I didn’t know where to begin! I knew once we checked in and got out to really explore, I would have plenty to photograph! These are the first few photos I took while we made our way to the hotel.

NYC – The Train Ride

by Free Spirit Meg, posted in Photo Journal, Travel

I have so many photos to share and go through from my New York City trip that I’m going to break it up into groups. The first group is “The Train Ride”. It was about a two hour ride but it didn’t feel like it on the way there. It was my first time on a train so it was a fun experience. The scenery was beautiful and there was a lot of interesting things to see while passing by. There were some spots that were so tight, the rock must have been carved out just for the track. It seemed to be only inches away from the side of the train when passing by! The mountains where so immense in the background, they were nice to admire. I saw a lot of birds crossing the river as well. Many of them were great blue herons! Their wingspan is impressive. Unfortunately, the train was moving too fast for me to get clear pictures, so none of the bird photos turned out well. Plus there was the headache of the foreground trees jumping right in front of my shot at the last minute! Darn jumping trees! 😛 I did manage to get a few nice shots though. Enjoy!

NYC Teaser

by Free Spirit Meg, posted in Events, Photo Journal, Travel

Here is a little teaser from my recent trip to New York City! It was my first time visiting and we went on my birthday weekend! My life long friend flew in from Ohio and came with my husband and I to celebrate. It was a great birthday! I took 978 photos over the course of two days! I have a lot to go through so to start off, here are my favorite three!

This is the globe sculpture in Columbus Circle created by Kim Brandell. It is directly in front of Trump Tower. Donald Trump tried to get his name put across the globe but the city said…um, no.
This is Belvedere Castle located in Central Park. Belvedere Castle was designed in 1865 for no other purpose than to sit there and look pretty. Later starting in 1919 and until this day, the National Weather Service began taking weather measurements from the castle to determine rainfall and wind speed and direction.
These sculptures were created by Jim Dine and were inspired by Venus de Milo. They are located at the Waterfall Plaza. This piece is entitled “Looking Toward the Avenue”. They are made of bronze and sit atop a delicate water fountain.

Check back soon for more photos from my trip!

PRINTS Available in my shop here. Or you can check out other products available with these prints on home décor, apparel, stationary and more! Click below!

Globe Sculpture

Belvedere Castle

Look Toward the Avenue