A Side Quest

Field Notes III.XXIII: A tangential foray into drawing and sketching

Welcome to Field Notes!

It was morning of day 2 of my thru hike of the Foothills Trail in May 2024. The day before I had hiked 15 miles in half a day over very rough terrain. I was sore but the plan for today was to go 20 miles, the longest day of the trip.

King’s Creek Falls was nearby, though. Seeing it would cost me time. The spur trail to get there was 0.3 miles out of my way, and double that for the return trip. That adds up in the context of a 20 mile day. Yet, this was something I had planned for. In the end it was worth the effort.

King’s Creek Falls was a side quest. These are mini adventures that present themselves along the way within the framework of a larger journey, and they can be quite fun! I have found some absolute gems of locations off of the main tracks of my trips. King’s Creek was planned for, but many have been complete serendipitous accidents.

Side quests don’t always pan out. However, the great thing about them is the opportunity to inject some spontaneity and freshness into a main effort. Or, if the side quest is known ahead of time, a chance to reach a highlight that may otherwise have been easily bypassed.

Now let me present you with a side quest of a different nature. Think about the journey of life and the pursuit of goals. My own main efforts fall into three fields- photography, backpacking, and philosophy. The ultimate goal is to artfully weave all three together seamlessly.

Recently, under the umbrella of philosophy, I have re-kindled an interest in mindfulness and eastern style meditation. I became aware of its relevance as I observed my own mind settle and become still on longer backpacking trips. This also seems to be a beautiful complement to the much more rational approach of Stoicism.

Well, possibly the most meditative act I have ever engaged in is drawing and sketching.

There it is- a side quest.

Drawings from highschool. My hand with imaginary ball and attempt at landscape scene in Alaska, early 1990's.

I’ve been drawing ever since I was very young. It is something I’ve enjoyed long before I ever picked up a camera, a backpack, or Epictetus’s Discourses. Unfortunately, it is something to which I never dedicated the time or effort necessary to become really good at.

Drawings on a visit to Austria in December 1998. The small castles were viewed briefly from a train window. The armor was drawn looking at a postcard for reference.

Drawing takes a lot of time. It can take hours to make a really good one. As a kid on family camping trips I tried making landscape sketches, but the reality for me was that it was just too impractical. That is one of the main appeals of photography. It takes only a moment to capture an image in the field and then I can process it later in my own time.

Nothing compares to the meditative absorption of drawing, though. While I am engaged in it, time disintegrates. Rational thought becomes suspended in the ether. All of existence is pared down to just the minute musculature of my fingers and the marks they make which are absorbed through my captivated eyes. When I finally place the pen down, the feeling is of waking from a dream every single time.

Drawn from found natural items. Armadillo skull, carpenter bee, deceased owl wing and talon.

Drawing remains a side quest for me because of the complications of the time investment. I cannot take the time to draw while crossing miles on a backpacking trip. I cannot draw fast enough to capture people or animals, other that the practice of gesture sketching.

Gesture sketches of people in motion, made in only seconds.

Line drawing exercise of my son as a baby. Done as a single uninterrupted line, without looking at the paper.

In fact, my drawing is directly tied to my active observation of the subject. I cannot even begin to draw something purely from my imagination. But I have had success with drawing a photograph. Perhaps this is a path forward for this side quest? I can photograph and then later translate those photos into drawings.

My daughter the hat thief as a small child. Drawn from a photo reference.

So why show my drawings here, if they are admittedly not my main effort? It is more than just waving and shouting “look what I can do!” The practice may improve my skill, and maybe one day drawing will be more than just a side quest. The practice is also a meditation that leads me in the direction of mental clarity. But, there is more.

Freehand sketch I shared in Substack Notes the other day, along with reference photo.

I am fascinated by human experience and creativity. I believe that sharing our creative efforts is key to understanding what it means to be human. So, I must set the example and share my work, whatever it is and however crappy it may be, if I am to ask anyone else to do the same. I’ll readily admit that it’s scary to do so, but maybe this is an exercise in the virtue of courage.

Sketch of reference photo above, using app to trace outline for proportions.

The voices of human creators speaking out against AI writing and imagery are becoming more numerous by the day. Well, one thing AI will never have is soul. As human beings, if we can find the courage to share our creativity derived from our own unique experiences of life purely for the benefit of other humans on their own paths of understanding, then we will have achieved Soul-in-the-Game. And it starts with a side quest.

Soul-in-the-Game makes AI creations totally irrelevant. So let’s step forward, holding our fire aloft!

Ok, so this was another post that was quite a bit different. I didn’t have time this week to go on a photography outing. Since I’ve picked up the pen to sketch a bit once more, I figured I might as well share something about it. I’d love to read your reactions. And, let me know if there’s any interest at all in seeing more sketches and drawings in the future!

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