Drawn the Road Again

Category: Off the Beaten Path

  • Lone wanderer

    Lone wanderer

    I just got back from two and a half weeks of wandering in California—and by the time you read this, I’ll be on the road again, after just a few hours at home. The pre-trip scramble is never the most fun part of traveling, but I know that the trip ahead will have plenty of…

  • Baa ram ewe

    Baa ram ewe

    Friday’s post got me thinking about other places where you can see (and sketch) wildlife that’s totally unfazed by your presence. And since we’re coming up on the beginning of the Year of the Sheep, the Badlands zoomed right to the top of the list today.

  • Sealed with a kiss

    Sealed with a kiss

    I’ve never done Highway One in the summer, so I’ve never seen it the way most people do—choked with tourists and traffic. I prefer to see the coast highway in the winter, where the only teeming hordes to contend with are those of the pinniped variety. The elephant seal breeding ground on the Big Sur…

  • In season

    In season

    One thing I always look forward to about driving to California is watching the seasons change as I go. It never ceases to amaze me that you can go from winter… …to spring, sometimes in the course of a single hour. These two sketches were done on the same day, just over 60 miles apart.…

  • Folds and faults

    Folds and faults

    If you were to page through my California sketchbooks, you’d think I had some serious A.D.D.—thematically they’re all over the place, because the state just has so many different things that interest me. But what I keep coming back to, time and time again, are the landscapes themselves. There is just something about the hills…

  • California or bust

    California or bust

    As it turned out, I didn’t get to do a whole lot of traveling last year—which was a bit of an adjustment, especially compared with previous years. It’s looking like 2015, though, is going to be another big travel year—which to me feels more like normal life. Tomorrow morning I’m hitting the road again ……

  • Lakeshore light

    Lakeshore light

    Of course, it’s possible to get that edge-of-the-earth feeling even smack in the middle of the continent. It’s all just a matter of where you stand.

  • Staycationland

    Staycationland

    What with moving into a new house and juggling a bunch of new studio projects this year, most of my sketching in 2014 was done pretty close to home. I have a feeling 2015 is going to be very different—several road trips are already on the calendar, and I’m making plans for others. Still, I’m…

  • Lumberjacks for a day

    Lumberjacks for a day

    Every year the Tailor and I go to the mountains with our friends to pick out and cut our own Christmas trees. Some people, when I tell them this, look at me like I have three heads and ask, “Why don’t you just go to a tree farm?” Well, sure, it’s more work (and a…

  • Gobble gobble

    Gobble gobble

    I pulled over and started sketching this little farm, with the idea of doing some sort of pre-Turkey Day post today. And then this guy wandered right up to the fence—and into my drawing. I guess it’s a good thing (for him) that emu isn’t traditional Thanksgiving fare…