TRNP Sketchbook Prepwork

As much as planning for a long distance backpacking trail involves a lot of thought and foresight, planning on bringing my sketchbook with is now involving even more thought... which brushes, colors etc. can I possibly live without? Also, in anticipation of our new route, a new sketchbook was purchased. Thus, another need arises, that of an introduction in the sketchbook itself. Kind of like a site plan, this is how we plan to begin our journey.

And this is our journey, tip to tip, 96 miles in all. With the mindset to cover every last bit of trail and relish in the lack of television, loud neighbors, and constant distractions.

Summer Solstice Festival - 45th Parallel Spirits

 

I am not sure what a distillery and summer solstice really have in common, other than an excuse to gather people together and spend some time enjoying music, food, a distillery tour, and tastings. Nonetheless, we had a great time on this day trip. As I've had the time to sketch more lately, it's been great to meet others who share in this passion and make sketching a normal day activity. On this day in particular, I got the chance to sit down with my mother at this festival and chat as we sketched together for the first time. This sketch above is my version of our time at the solstice festival. 

 

 



Above is my mom's sketch. I am always amazed at how different each artist sees the world around them - how they compose their image, what details they pick up on as being important, and their choice of color, shade, and value. It's been fun for us to compare our sketches and be able to look at the world through each others eyes. In all, she was a lot looser with her strokes, where I drew more tightly.  She shows people and the sky, whereas I left both of these out of my sketch, focusing more on the building and the tents.



 

Sketching side by side with my mother. If I learned anything on this outing it is this: Similar to backpacking, gardening, and running, when spending all day under the sun sketching - WEAR SUNSCREEN!!!

Sketching "Tool Kit"

Blogging more has inspired me to purchase a few more new items to add to my sketching "tool kit" so to speak, so I thought I would do a quick visual inventory of what I typically have on hand to sketch.  When it comes to sketchbooks, as an architect I am pretty much addicted to Moleskine's, so it's no surprise that the two new sketchbooks I just purchased are also Moleskine's (I did seriously ponder purchasing a different sketchbook, but just couldn't bring myself to it).

For color, I tend to use watercolor crayons a lot, though have also worked with the typical pigment base that allows you to mix your own colors. The nice thing about the watercolor crayons is that the color is ready for you to use, meaning less time spent mixing colors but you have less color options. Using straight pigments, I can get whatever color I want, but will often spend more time mixing and playing with colors than actually painting with them. Now, I have just purchased a new palette of watercolors in the hopes of finding a happy medium between these two.

Of course there are a few token items such as brushes (I have a few good ones that I am using constantly - all natural sable), a ruler (another architect thing, though I prefer my clear triangle that I can't find at the moment), and a few containers for carrying around water.

For the initial sketch, I tend to start with pencil first, layer on the ink, and then move to color. While I can't claim a strong preference for a pencil, micron pens are definitely my pen of choice for sketching.

There you have it, my "tool kit" in a photo!

Wyalusing State Park

Finally, a chance to relax!!! With one more test down and summer upon us, Chris and I had the chance to join dear friends from Milwaukee for a weekend of camping, hiking and relaxing at Wyalusing State Park. We drove down on Friday and pitched camp at a scenic campsite overlooking the Wisconsin River Valley. 

Saturday we hiked the Sentinal Ridge Trail which stopped at quite a few different overlooks/points of interest. At this one, the Carrier Pigeon Monument, we stopped for a while longer to eat lunch (hence a chance to bust out the sketchbook).

After hiking and relaxing a bit we headed over to the other side of the Mississippi river into Iowa and Pikes Peak to check out the view from the other side (just as beautiful) and a waterfall. 

Up early the next morning, I had a few minutes to sketch out our luxury sleeping accommodations... the first tent Chris and I purchased together (she has been very good to us). Ah, the memories... we have come so far from our very first time camping and hiking together.

Media: Micron Pen, Watercolor Crayon

Claddagh Coffee

 

Here is a place I have been wanting to try out for quite a while... Claddagh Coffee! I was able to stop in for a bit to eat and a coffee with the thought in mind that I was going to sit down and study for my up and coming test.  Needless to say, the temptation of my sketchbook got the best of me, thinking, "oh, I'll just do one quick sketch and then I'll study." Plus, I had some new micron brush pens that I have been looking for a good excuse to try out and this small coffee shop in a historic building looked like just the right place.

 

Media: Micron brush pen, graphite

Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge

I got the chance to sketch with the "metro sketchers" group for the first time today at the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, which was a win-win-win situation:  a chance to meet other fellow avid sketchers, be outside, and sketch from nature! I definitely hope to meet up with them again on further sketch outings. Unfortunately, I did have to leave a bit early this time due to prior obligations (and a mental kick in the rear for leaving my favorite water color brushes at home).

I walked down a trail to the bottom of the valley and found this nice spot looking straight out onto the marsh, though blocked by trees.  Perfect for me as a silent observer. One thing I did this time that I don't usually do is I did not erase any pencil underlay sketch marks. That being said, I think it turned out ok.

Media: Watercolor Crayon, Micron Pen, Graphite.

Below is a photo of the area I was sketching