SketchTravel in the Southwest – Arches National Park
SketchTravel in the Southwest - Arches
Arches National Park – #2 of 4 posts
From my journal…
Moab – mountain bicycle capital of the world. The sky was white at 6:00am. I made tea and looked around at the place where I was staying – a small garden, the shed for bicycles, a cat by my door hoping to get fed. The morning sun rose at 7:30am over the east hills. A crow caws from one of the big cottonwood trees in the yard. Another cat is trying to catch a hummingbird. I made a quick sketch of the red rocks on the hilltops before leaving for another day of exploring.
Delicate Arch is the most recognized arch by far, and is honored on the Utah license plate. The hike to it cuts across desert sagebrush as it gently climbs up and around the hills that form the windswept basin which contains the arch. Near the top, the trail hugs the cliff on the right with a steep drop off on the left. It preoccupies your attention until you round the curve and come upon the view of Delicate Arch, seemingly coming out of nowhere, or at least somewhat unexpected. It stands proudly in a huge smooth bowl of stone, making you wonder how it is still there in all its majesty when everything around it has fallen away from erosion. It is such a perfect setting, you could almost imagine there is a caretaker keeping it all tidy and swept clean.
North Window Arch
This is one of two fantastic arches found on the Windows Trail. Turning off of the main Arches Entrance road at Balanced rock, I drove the short distance to the trail. The trail wanders through wide open country that allows you to experience these amazing arches from close and farther away as you take a relaxed walk around the area. Many interesting rock formations in addition to the arches.
Turret Arch
The other arch on the Windows Trail is Turret Arch with its tall outcropping of sandstone acting like the protective tower of a fortress. This is pretty much the view from the trailhead (parking lot. You can’t tell from this sketch, but these fantastic rocks are so large and accessible. They seem to just offer themselves to you, inviting closer inspection. The pottery shard was sketched in a museum and painted in with color later.
Please look for my other posts of sketch travels in the Southwest here as well.
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Steemians, thanks for reading this post. Please follow me at @mrsomebody and comment below.
My southwest posts:
#1 – Moab, Arches National Park
#2 – Arches, Arches National Park
#3 – Cliff Dwellings of the Southwest
#4 – Canyonlands
Were you sketching these on the spot while you are hiking? That's very good of you, ah!
Why is the Delicate Arch called so? How delicate is it? 😃 And there is that Devil's Garden trail. What monster do hikers meet along this trail to be called devil's?
Hi @macoolette. Yes I do sketch on site. I think it was named Delicate Arch because it seems so unlikely it is still standing with everything having eroded around it. Although I like the idea of a monster lurking in Devil's Garden, I didn't encounter any!
You must be very good to be able to do those sketches while on site. If I were you, I'd just take the photo and draw at home later. :D
LOL. So why is it called Devil's Garden? :D
Very cool sketches.
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Thank you @offgridlife
This post was shared in the Curation Collective Discord community for curators, and upvoted and resteemed by the @c-squared community account after manual review.
Thank you @c-squared
Your sketch travel posts are still some of my favorite posts ever on Steem. Every one is so good. Really enjoying these southwest vistas! Much love - Carl
Thank you so much @carlgnash. I'm glad you like them. You can't go wrong with the fantastic views in the southwest.
Hi mrsomebody,
Visit curiesteem.com or join the Curie Discord community to learn more.
Thank you for your upvote @curie. I appreciate it very much.
These are very lovely sketches :D. You are truly artistic to create a journal diary that is accompanied with sketches of your own when you are traveling, I mean I know people do that in movies, but I've never seen any of my friends who actually take the time and immortalise their adventures in this way. Most of them just snap a selfie and post it in Instagram.
Nicely done, and congratulations for your curie vote :D.
I appreciate your comments @scrawly. I've found that taking the time to do sketches (especially during travels) is a very rewarding experience. I always take photos too of course, but there is something about sitting quietly somewhere and doing a drawing that allows the place to sink in more. I love it when things get quiet so the birds and bugs go about their business and you feel just a part of it. Those things come back to me when I look at them in a way that photos just don't capture for me.
Very good technique you have, I love your style, my favorite sketch is "Turret Arche", it is so rare but your way of building your art with each stroke does justice to it and makes you want to watch it with pleasure.
I am glad to know your work, you are a good artist,
a hug.
Thank you so much @fernando.lubezki. It is always fun to try to capture images from places I visit. It is fun to change my medium too, from pen to pencil and sometimes to watercolor, though that is more challenging to me. I appreciate your thoughts.
Such beautiful rocks! Your sketches are really beautiful, I love the shape of the turret arch more.
You sketch most of your travel memories? That's definitely a fun way to record your adventures. You don't just take photos of the, you put them. Pretty cool!!
Thank you @audreybits. I love drawing things with strong form and shadows. So the rock formations in the southwest are great for that. Yes I always sketch on trips, along with taking a few photos. It is a great way to revisit past trips too!
Oh yeah, they are! Travelling must be quite an adventure for you. Definitely, it is!
You managed to capture some great detail with your sketches. Obviously there is a lot of unique and interesting formations out there which gave you a lot to work with. It must have been a nice trip.
Thank you @niallon11. Yes the southwest rock formations are a natural for drawing - all that solid form, light and shadows. I tend to draw buildings and structures, so canyons are a welcome change.
Art was never a subject that I managed to master but I can always appreciate the people who have a natural talent. I'm sure that the buildings were interesting but as you said, a change is often welcome.
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Awesome sketches! Love this idea of sharing sketches as a journal /blog... very cool!
Thanks @joshuadavis. I do have to sketch fast because I am usually not traveling alone. So I often work on them a little more in the evening, and make notes of the events of the day. It is a fun hobby for sure.