From Chicago, I flew to Salt Lake City to meet my parents, and start a two week drive through Grand Teton, Yellowstone, and Mt Ranier National Park. Somehow in that two weeks, we managed to experience four seasons, heat, heavy rain, snow, the lot. I'm not sure if I really reflected that much, but I enjoyed drawing trees and mountains, and just getting my hand used to moving to depict what I'm seeing again. I brought materials with me, but I ended up also using found materials; at the time, Yellowstone was experiencing one of its annual moving forest fires, and we passed by a spot where the fire had burned through. The experience of walking through the forest was just awe-inspiring, and at that point I had to pick up some charcoal to try and draw what was around me.
In hindsight, I wish I had brought bolder and more colourful materials so that I could make more graphic images. My favourite page ended up being of a dam in Grand Teton, using a paint pen that exploded. It ended up giving an energy that I really enjoy making and seeing in my work, so maybe it means next time I need to use even more wet materials.
From what I remember, I didn't enjoy the experience of facing drawing again, but I think that it was worth breaking that anxiety now rather than later. I want to learn to love drawing again, so I think I will need to carry on challenging myself in this way to overcome it properly. It was freeing to know that it wasn't going to get judged by anyone, it wasn't going to receive a 'Satisfactory'. Let's see what happens this year on my next trip.
