Sometimes it takes an out of towner to show you a classic site you’ve never seen even though it is in your own town. The kids came into town a day or so ago and they wanted to see the redwoods in Great Basin State Park. They grew up here, so they had visited the park many times. Somehow, I thought this was way north of San Jose, where we live. It turns out they are less than an hour away, in the Santa Cruz mountains. I have lived here for 7 years and have never been to that park.

Getting there was half the fun. The roads were so windy, I would have shut my eyes to avoid being car sick, except I was driving.  The first big trees I noticed were eucalyptus. They were really big. However, as we kept driving it seemed like we were shrinking. The sequoias were enormous. When we got to the park itself, we walked down some trails. There were a number of trees that had fallen. Some of those skeletal remains were big enough in which to set up residence – if it weren’t for the spiders, fungi and banana slugs. I could live with the moss, though. There was lots of moss.

I drew the picture below in ink after I set out the relationships between the tree trunks and other shapes in pencil. I sketched from one of the many photographs I took as I walked with the kids. I was frequently the last one on the trail, since I really wanted to take in the sights.

Here is my sketch:

Great Basin
6″x9″ 140# Cold Pressed Watercolor Block

I would like to solve the problem of contrasting bright green leaves against a dark background. As the picture is framed above, delicate, bright green-leaved trees are in the foreground on the left and right. Perhaps a the foreground should have been a bit darker to contrast with the lighter background at the top center of the composition.

In general, I am happy with this study. It does give me a sense of what it was like to hike along the trail under these magnificent trees.