What an adventure my love dove/co-writer and I had at Natural History on Monday! That place is the best. We were researching for Petrified Girlfriend locations, she with her camera and I with my sketchbook. Mostly we she took pictures. I offended Caitlin’s sensibilities by making her take pictures that look terrible as photographs but are useful for aiding a drawing. So there we were, making tasteless images with flash reflections on glass and blown out light areas that served no purpose but reproducing the displays placed in front of us. Like a couple of tourists. In the dim exhibition halls the camera’s flash was too weak to capture the room and we didn’t have a tripod for some long exposures, so I dashed off a couple drawings to get down the two best spaces while Cait drew plants and animals.

This isn’t to say that Caitlin didn’t get some really cool shots – hell, any of em that she really set up totally beat my drawings. Like check this out (in a Frog Blog first – photography):

I’ve gotta say, though, the dinosaurs have stopped doing it for me. I think ever since they remodeled that whole floor. Maybe it’s just a coincidence and I got old at the same time that happened, but I’m thinking maybe all the clinical, modern glass, and the layout built around evolutionary lineage rather than dramatic impact had an effect. I mean, I’m glad they have the T-Rex standing properly and they’re doing more to teach evolution and all. I just think the ocean life redesign works better because it retains the mysterious cavern atmosphere that the older mammal exhibits still have – plus it has those cool aquatic sounds!

Anyhow, I’m glad I’m not Craig Thompson, and I don’t consider taking reference photos to be cheating. Cause if I was, it would take me a really long time to make a comic that takes place anywhere specific. And I wouldn’t get this snapshot:

Or this cover for Caitlin’s 1978 solo album, Amethyst: