Drawing day 2. When I’m in the field I sometimes spend days looking for wild things. The hunt is fun. Just being in the wilderness on a good day can bring a range of emotions from a sense of perfect belonging when conditions are right to moments of miserable dislocation. A sense of being out of place comes most often in bad weather or in a bad cloud of mosquitoes.

When I draw, I relive the wilderness experience. Wild things are transferred from wild places to artful spaces. In this process of transformation the emotions come along. On one level I imagine standing a few yards from the bear, remembering what it feels like to have nothing between us. On another level I relive the emotions of what is working well and what isn’t right. 

Yesterday while I was drawing I wasn’t feeling particularly good about the drawing. I kept thinking that the pencils were not sharp enough. The Createacolor graphite is too dark. My willows are not detailed enough. My reference photo of the bear doesn’t have the detail I need in the face and eyes. It was too dark. These negatives come flooding in like a bad rainstorm at 10,000 feet, ten miles from the trailhead. If you are not prepared, you will be miserable for a long time. When you come prepared, the storm is a momentary discomfort that passes quickly.

Drawing is like that. There are times when it feels like things aren’t working. I feel like tearing up the paper and starting over. Yesterday I wondered if what I had envisioned for this drawing could come to fruition. I have been in this mental place before. I half expect it and I’m prepared. The first thought is to just work through the feelings. I have learned to trust my original vision. It is in my head and not on paper yet. The more I draw, the more that mental picture becomes a reality. 

Getting it on paper is the process of solving a thousand little puzzles. Hours pass with the rhythm of the pencil scribing lines of light and dark. Differing textures begin to emerge. The contrasts are beginning to create dimension, depth. The shadow under the willows is working. The logs from the fence are feeling right. What I see in my mind is beginning to show up on paper. Today I’ll solve more problems. This is going to be good.

Stand by for upcoming blogs and photos of this work in process as I continue "The Griz Drawing Chronicles."

Do you have a bear story to share with me?