Maine in January

Like 2022 and 2020, I went to Portland, Maine, in January. It turns out I love hiking and sketching in the cold!
It was fun to be traveling again - I love the traveling part of traveling. On the plane, I read, or I crochet while listening to a podcast. I people-watch in the airport and sketch and try to eat something decent with a cup of coffee. 

I don't just go to Maine to hike and sketch, I go there to visit my friend Andrea! We've been friends for about 35 years and try to see each other at least twice a year. I like to sit in her kitchen and sketch while she cooks.

We went on two hikes on Saturday. One was both icy and muddy, and we turned back before reaching our destination. The other, Mackworth Island, was muddy but more manageable. But both were very cold and windy, so I made a sketch from a photo that I took.

While Andrea made breakfast on Sunday morning (French toast!), I sketched her dining room.
As we started a hike later that day, Andrea got a call so I did a quick sketch of trees and rocks and leaves - just a lot of fun mark-making in a short amount of time.

We reached the summit of Bradbury Mountain and I was excited to find a picnic table where I could sit and sketch while Andrea and I continued to talk (it's like one long four-day conversation when we visit!). I was so excited to be in a place and to have the time where I could make this kind of sketch - full page, from life, of nature. 
This took about 20 to 25 minutes and I used ink and colored pencil - the blue/gray of the sky is a Rohrer & Klingner ink called Thea in a Kuretake water brush that I love having it on hand. I sketched it out with that ink and added some diluted sumi ink that I have in another Kuretake water brush, and layered on the colored pencil. It was very cold and that's all I could do!