30 Days of Art: Day 14

Armstrong Woods, Guernville, CA

So, the last few days have been taken up with mandalas.  After my meditation today, I felt called to draw this one, which depicts one of my favorite places on earth:  Armstrong Woods. 

Walking among the trees feels almost as if I have entered the most sacred of cathedrals -- one populated with the beauties of nature than of man.  The Old Growth redwood trees reach so far up into the sky that they literally block out the sun.  But rather than feeling dark and brooding, it is a place of great repose, silence, reverence and connection with nature.  I was just there just a few weeks ago, and I spent the better part of an hour seated inside an enormous tree feeling sheltered and welcomed.  I love that place.

I enjoyed using my technical pencil to draw the woman.  I loved the precision of the pencil -- I was able to draw her hair as little cornrows (nearly impossible to do with other pencils).  But I found it really difficult to draw her face.  I kept getting the proportions wrong and just had to settle for what showed up.  Maybe I'm just off tonight, or maybe it was the pencil (yeah, that's it . . . it was the pencil, lol!)

Anyway, I enjoyed doing this and I'm not going to allow myself to fall into the trap of perfection.  So there!