2009-03-06 - 2009-03-10
So then - 4 days to be with myself and get some quiet in the mountains.
I had been to Mountain Sanctuary before, and had a good idea of the
environment - good clean air , lots of elbow space and the clearest coolest river pools of soft mountain water.
What I completely forgot about was the surreal rock formations dappling the landscape.
The Twins (My last, and best sketch of the trip before I had to pack it in and head back to Joburg city)
It became my daily meditation then, going out on foot into the veld, settling on one or two formations for the day (at times it became hard to choose) and spending the rest of the day in the cool therapeutic company of the river.
Just the sound of that water tumbling over rock is enough to send you out...
This is the first time I've consiously gone out to do some field scetches, and to be honest, at first it felt really pretentious, sitting in the field with your precious sketch pad, while some German tourist and his family hikes by.
But I learnt a lot about landscape drawing, textures, and general drawing discipline.I could see myself improving as the days went by. Plus - I enjoyed it - a lot! So much so that I think us boys need to gather a posse at regular intervals, and head out to a designated spot for a few days of quiet and field drawing.
Honestly one of the most rejuvenating and inspiring few days I've spent in a long time, in of the most beautiful settings this diverse country of ours has to offer.
Soundtrack :
Ghost of Tom joad - Bruce Springsteen
Best of - JJ Cale
For Emma , forever ago - Bon Iver
