I received a few emails after our meeting at the Natural History Society of Maryland workshop on nature journaling last week asking for more process sketches for how to do field work. Since I've been walking the whole York Heritage Trail for my PA Walk with Spring 2025 pilgrimage, I thought this might be a good time to pull up some of the work that was done on site and finished at home. Our workshop at NHSM was entirely indoors, so the group did miss out on this part of the nature sketchbook experience. It's very different from studio and museum work!
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Phyllite in a road cut on the YHRT |
When I go into the field to hike, backpack, or bike, I always pack a dedicated sketchbook that travels well in my backpack or daypack. I also carry a limited number of drawing implements - a small collection of earth toned colored pencils and a black ballpoint pen. This is different kit than what I carry in my adventure truck (more on that later) which serves as my studio away from home. All my materials are packaged in a double Ziplock 2 gallon freezer bag. When I get to my destination, I decide how to arrange my sketches for the day. I usually draw a few random hand-drawn frames in blue pencil or soft graphite pencil on a page. This is part of the process of committing to the work each day, kind of like making a promise I make to myself to the work of observation and later, study. On this day, I laid out three frames on a single page - meaning I promised to stop at least three times on my hike and sketch!
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Frames with rough sketches |
On this section of the YHRT I knew I would be seeing some cool rock outcrops (I love geology) and passing through an historic railroad tunnel. The trail also follows Codorus Creek the while way and I knew there'd be some bridge crossings. So I made three frames and Lo! filled all three in as I went along and I added a few extra sketches on the following page since there was so much more to gawk at. But let's stick with the three frames I started with.
As my hike went on, I filled in each of three frames with the highlight stops of my hike. These are rough, fast, and strategic: I look closely to determine the darkest parts of my scene. I reserve the lightest parts of a scene. I reduce the massiveness or complexity of the scene to foundational structures. In addition, I take three or four reference photos - but no more. I try to reduce the potential for becoming overwhelmed in both the sketch and the number of photos.
Here's some secret sauce: Work fast. Turn off your brain. Look for the basics - form, shape, contour, shadow. Don't overthink it. If a scene makes you stop and go "Whoa!" - stick with that immediate response. Don't dissect what you see. Instead, draw the awe.
If I have the time to develop a field sketch a little more, I will devote no more than twenty minutes to it. Same rule follows - if I start to bog down or make editorial decisions that threaten the Wow Factor, I stop! For this hike, I did spend some extra time at the tunnel since there was a nice wayside with a table and bench to work in. Amos took a nap.
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Howard Tunnel on site- rough color/pen |
I stopped at the phyllite formation on the way back. The sunlight was richer, the sun lower in the sky. It looked richer than the first time I studied it. I wanted to capture that richness and the way the angled sun broke the complicated outcrop into sub-units of light and shadow. This allowed me to see how the metamorphic process of pressure and heat deformed different parts of the outcrop. I roughed in color and dark/shadow areas with pen before moving on, but neither the Howard Tunnel sketch or rock outcrop took more more than twenty minutes. I saved the rough sketch of Codorus Creek as it was, no color work. Then home and a few days later, the challenge of color began.
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Phyllite road cut |
To arrive at the sketch above, I devoted a few hours to reading about the properties of phyllite which is the "in-between stage" of mudstone (sedimentary) to shale (sedimentary to metamorphic) to schist (deformed metamorphic). Phyllite is shale on its way to becoming schist. I researched the history of the railroad and the technologies used to construct the railroad and was geologists have written about these outcrops and rock types. Using layered colored pencils I build the color notes (made on site) with what I now know about phyllite mineral content, weathering, and deformation behavior. All told, that little 5" x 6" sketch might mean a whole evening of study and application.
More secret sauce: I use gel pen in the final renderings to emphasize lines and forms in shadow. Since gel pen when wetted behaves like watercolor, it's a great medium for pulling shadows. Just a little water on a fine brush is all you need to blend the beautiful purple-gray ink over the colored pencil.
For the Codorus Creek landscape, I worked from my reference photos as I built up my color notes. This sketch frame took far less time than my little geology sketch since I didn't need to know as much about the properties of the creek as I did for phyllite! I work with flow-y music playing as I develop the sketches at home or in camp.
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Picking up from my on-site color notes, I add umber and purple. |
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My light-reserved spaces receive color |
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I begin layering related earth tones |
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Very strategic gel pen - don't overdo it! |
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More or less finished for now. |
It's so important to NOT think of your sketches as "finished" - that by their very nature of being impressions of a few minutes of awe makes this kind of art transitory and changeable. Nature is always changing, right before our eyes. Nature sketchbooks allow us to capture moments in time and to become part of the story of your time in and around nature, not the grand finale. Think of this as a practice, not a product.
Colored pencil is one set of techniques I use in field sketching. I also use watercolor (more on that another time), again with a very limited palette of color. The tools I take into the field should be few, light weight, and easily accessible. By pre-framing a page before I head out, I have already committed to that experience.
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A "finished" page for this day's walk. |
If you'd like to join me for a field session, consider jumping into one of
Lancaster Conservancy's monthly workshops (second Sunday of the month year 'round) or I can come to you if in the Mid-Atlantic region for a group session indoors or out - preferably outdoors! April 13 is our next meet-up in Lancaster County!
https://www.lancasterconservancy.org/events/