Sketching Daughter and a Viaduct

On our camping trip a few weeks ago, our daughter and I elected to sketch while the boys and my wife hiked up to the boardwalk at Rough Ridge (Blue Ridge Parkway, near the Lynn Cove Viaduct). We carried bag chairs and our sketching supplies to the next viaduct north, about a tenth of a mile, sat down and began to draw. I positioned myself so she would be in my sketch.

After what seemed 15 minutes my oldest was there to let us know they were done with the hike. One of the fastest hours I've ever spent. I finished the sketch (which is in my moleskine) over the next few days from memory. My daugher and I commented later, while driving over another bridge, that we would never feel the same way about them, now that we had carefully observed their parts in such detail. Drawing is a deep form of seeing and remembering.