Costa Rica Sketch Journal ~ July 14, 2008 (still)

Sketch/journaling is half the fun of traveling or taking a vacation. It gives your trip a continuing life ~ that vacation is never really "over" if you can go back and relive it in full color (and with memory joggers for scents, sounds, ambiences, and other happenings). Making a sketch and/or writing about your day's adventures will greatly enhance your memories later. Hey, sketch/journaling your DAILY LIFE is a trip of its own!

That's why I journal my travels and also why I love teaching travel journaling to others. What a wonderful gift to be able to give other people ~ the ability to "retake" a vacation!

....Back to July 14, Daniel and I were enjoying wandering down the creek, which was about four feet wide and only a few inches deep (navigable in Crocs or other water-type shoes, but you wouldn't want to do it barefoot or in shoes you expect to dry later ~ they'll probably mould before they would dry out at this time of year, the beginning of the rainy season).

A troop of howler monkeys passed by overhead, about five of them, one mother with a baby and ... WHOA! A pinto howler! One of the howlers, a big male, had areas on his body without black pigment and the fur was brilliant golden-orange! Since the troop was about 70' up in the leafy canopy, we didn't get a lot of clear viewing, but it was very obvious that a large part of its tail was pure orange, and part of its lower body. Fascinating! We must have watched for twenty minutes, until our necks complained so loudly they drowned out the fascination and we walked on.

The stream had a cut a ravine down the mountain so that the banks rose at an angle on each side covered with trees, shrubs, and vines. For much of the distance, the creek traveled parallel to the ocean, separated from the beach by a high ridge. We could hear and smell the ocean for much of the walk (see the map journal page above).

We saw cecropia trees in a canopy opening (they grow fast to fill up openings caused by fallen trees) and along the stream we found a palm studded with spines. You definitely wouldn't want to mess with that spiny palm! I collected a spine and a bunch of leaf skeletons, as well, which you can see on this journal page.

We were fascinated by the exotic buttresses on the trees. These are adapted to help hold the trees upright in the shallow, often water-logged soil. On this tree species, whatever it may be, the top of each flange was a gorgeous, unusual coppery orange.

Reaching the lagoon, where the stream pools before wandering out to the ocean, I found a big, boxy crab shell (see the picture at right).

Here you see the (fairly) well-equipped casual hiker, with a walking stick found along the bank, camera, binoculars, water bottle and lunch and a sitting pad in the bag. The camera is usually in the bag, but I'm holding it here. I also should have had a bandana to tie around my forehead (or a soft hat to wear) because later, on the beach, sweat kept running down into my eyes. This is the humid tropics, after all.

The lagoon waxes and wanes with the seasons. On a couple of our visits it has been almost entirely absent, with the stream emptying out right into the ocean. This time, it was lovely and broad, and I saw a jesus-christ lizard race across the lagoon from one side to the other (I didn't make that name up, they really call it that because of how it "walks on water"!). They're really fast and alert, and difficult to photograph.

It was a relief to get out into the beach breeze. As we sat companionably on a log eating energy bars (from my bag), we discovered we were being watched. Be sure to click on the image here to see who was peering out over the top of the log from under the beach almond. (Hint: remember what a pizote is from previous blog entries?)

After the pizote wandered off, we were just sitting watching the waves when Dan noticed a black blob coming toward on the beach us from the north. As we watched in puzzlement turning to astonishment, an Indian water buffalo pulling a wooden cart filled with people hove into view. Talk about incongruous!

We both started snapping photos of it, hoping not to offend, and apparently the people on the cart thought we were pretty funny, because they smiled and waved at us. Later back at the cabina I sketched the preposterous scene from the viewfinder on my camera (this is Dan's photo ~ his were the best, mine were too hasty).

I love my digital camera! That oxcart was in sight for only about five minutes, and only close enough to sketch for maybe one minute ~ I'd never have been able to draw it as it passed.

Speaking of digital cameras, when I travel, I always carry two spare sets of rechargeable batteries for my camera, plus my charger. That means I always have an extra set to carry along with me, even if I have to leave a set charging in my room ~ which has happened. Additionally, I don't have to worry about running the batteries down if I want to draw from the viewfinder or share pictures with others. I never have a problem with my camera running out of juice.

As well, I use a 1 or 2 Gigabyte storage card in the camera and always carry a spare card in case I fill the first one up. Knowing I have the spare card, I can take as many pictures as I want. And I have learned the hard way that before checking my bag for the plane ride home, it's a good idea to either carry the camera or to at least remove the card with my precious photos and tuck it into my wallet. My camera was stolen, along with my entire trip's photos, last February. I minded losing the photos a LOT more than I minded losing the camera ~ it sure was a good lesson!

Tomorrow's entry will the last one for this trip. It includes sketching the jungle from the beach, drawings of some cool things I found along the beach, and the trip home (including a crocodile!). See you then! And after that, I will get back into the process of preparing for my new Oregon Trail historical workshop.

Costa Rica Nature Journal/Sketching Workshop ~ 4

Morning starts early in the tropics, in our case this first day, it started quite a bit before 5:19, when the howlers started up. Around 4:30am, a muffled "knocking" started up out in the forest. It was obviously a call of some kind, but it wasn't until later that Gerardo, the lodge naturalist, identified it for us as a Pacific Screech Owl. I have screech owls at home and they sure don't sound like THAT. I wonder how they make that odd sound....

Then howler monkey roars began rolling through the dark air, and it was time to rise. There is something "right" somehow about the howler calls. I feel resentful about my alarm clock going off at home, sometimes, but I don't get upset with the howlers, even when they start up at 4:30am. It would be like getting upset because the sun rises. Dang!

I was restless this first night, anyway, and had gone out to sit on my veranda at 3:30am, to admire the stars shining through a sparsely-leafed cecropia tree and look for the Southern Cross constellation. A haiku came to me:

Cecropia's black lace
frames the Southern Cross.
Starshine lights the footpath.

To be perfectly honest, I'm not certain I actually saw the Southern Cross there, but it made such a nice haiku I couldn't resist. Oh well.

This first day was one in which I wanted to get acquainted with my students (the first two, Jocelyn and Marilyn, at least ~ Kathy was scheduled to arrive the next day, the first day of class.) After breakfast, during which Gerardo set up the scope on the open deck of the restaurant and we began seeing tropical birds close-up, we started off down the trail to the beach talking and stopping to admire frogs, butterflies and flowers.

It was a beautiful day ~ the first of many, and we each went at our own pace, scattered down the beach. Patrolling the spindrift, I surprised a coati (in Costa Rica it's called a pizote ~ say "pee-SO-tay") digging up a sea turtle nest and eating the eggs. I got some terrific photos, and hoped it would wait for Jocelyn and Marilyn to come along, but all they got to see were the deep hole and scattered leathery eggshells.

I think now might be a good time to talk about some journaling principles. There are many schools of thought on how to make journals, and I subscribe to the tenet "It's YOUR journal; do it however you please." When I create a journal, I want it to be a record of my journey.

For instance, consider this pizote raiding the turtle nest. It certainly wouldn't have stood still for me to draw it at its nefarious task, so I took several photos, then later that day I drew the scene from the screen on my camera. I feel fine about putting things in my journal ~ writing, drawings, ephemera (stuff that gets glued or taped in) ~ that I have actually experienced. Sometimes I leave an empty space if I can't add something in the moment, and go back to it later. Sometimes MUCH later. Maybe, even, after I return home.

Additionally, I have decided that in my journals, it's okay to use resource photos, even ones from magazines or online, to decorate a page if I actually experienced that scene myself. For instance, I drew the flying toucan in the clickable journal page above just this morning, using photos I found in my files. But I actually saw this particular kind of toucan flying from a tree exactly that way, during this trip. To me, that is valid journal stuff. Others might have a different journaling ethic, but that's mine.

Design is important, too. On the page with the "band-aid," above, I journaled the text into a freeform shape, leaving room all around it for adding drawings or ephemera later. Later that morning, I added a quick sketch of the zone-tailed hawk. Other things were put in later on. A journal like this can't be planned out entirely in advance, but it adds interest to vary the page design, and text is one area in which you can quickly give it shape.

After a leisurely paddle in the sun-warmed potholes at the ocean's edge, I sat in the shade of a big black rock and sketched the beach. Later I walked about 500 feet north, turned around, and sketched the big black rock from the shade of one of the palm trees in the first picture. The two pages face each other in the journal, making a great visual reminder of that marvelous solitary place. You'll notice I added watercolor pencil color to one of them, but I haven't gotten around to coloring the other. I might not. If you look closely at the colored one, you'll see that the final golden sand coloring wasn't painted in ~ I like the pencil texture; it makes believable sand.

This initial trip to the beach was part of my workshop preparation. I like to prepare personal examples of what I ask from my students, so the sketches were examples of the sorts of things they might decide to sketch. Additionally, I wanted to collect things for them to draw in the classroom.

So late that afternoon I started back up the path to the wildlife lodge with a bag full of goodies for the first class, tired from jetlag, a long day sketching in the tropical sun, and the half-hour climb up the steep trail ~ but supremely happy and satisfied with my first day at El Remanso.

Sketching on the beach

April 21 – Earthday!

11:35am, 88 degrees and humid – but comfortable in the breeze off the ocean and, believe it or not, no mosquitoes!

Dan and I are down on the beach near the pothole tidepools. Actually, Dan is in one, slowly broiling to a lovely lobster red but can’t bring himself to come out. I’m sitting directly under three scarlet macaws who are chowing down on beach almonds, grooming and squawking. The beach almond tree which (I’m sketching under it) has large green leaves, some turning red with age. Somehow, these huge red birds blend in with the foliage, looking just like the red leaves from a distance! A dark brown hawk with orange beak and legs, barred tail and a white rump has made a couple of sorties at them, but they’re not impressed. [Later: it was a Common Black Hawk.]

I’ve been sketching the gorgeous leaf clusters of the beach almond. I usually sketch with pencil, but because of the humidity and the fact that I prefer to write in the journal with ball-point pen, I’m also sketching with the pen. It makes me really observe carefully because I can’t erase mistakes. Good practice!

I forgot to wear my swimsuit (or suitable undies) for swimming, so between sketching session drawing the beach almond leaves, a little shell I found, and a macaw-harvested almond, I discreetly skinny-dipped between passers-by. But even though there are many people at the lodge, the beach is still uncrowded and it is easy to feel a fine solitude. It was lovely in the rock pools (some are 5’ across, others are even larger) with the thundering surf dumping occasional tubs of warm bubblebath from seaward heated pools over the edge and onto us. Heaven!

On the walk down to the tidepools I had some small adventures – a pizote digging in the sand let me come within 15’ before it slipped into a tangle of palm fronds. A reddish-brown squirrel holding an almond husk the size of its head allowed me to gawk from barely 4’ away as it gnawed at its prize. And then the macaws!

(Later: I’ve been adding color to my beach almond sketches with my watercolor pencils and I’m very pleased with the results. On the drawing, the large clump was penciled, then the color was spread around and intensified by painting with water (I’m using a brush that holds water in the barrel – you squeeze it and it moistens the tip, then you paint. It really beats carrying a water bottle and a brush).

Since I’m sketching and coloring these partially to set an example for my students-to-be, I’ve left the small leaf clump on the right un-moistened to show what it looks like before wetting. On the main group of leaves, after the first “painting” of water, I added more color with the pencils, then wet that, too.

I didn’t wet the final penciling of the almond husk because I wanted to leave some texture, which the pencils provided perfectly. [Click on the drawing for a really close close-up!]

Although I am teaching the watercolor pencil sessions to students, I haven’t done a lot of watercolor pencil painting myself. This is highly advantageous in one way – I have enough general painting and color experience to be able to keep well ahead of beginning-to-intermediate students, but it also gives me a fresh perspective of what they are learning and problems they might encounter. Anyway, I am glad to be playing with this – it sure gives the sketchbook more presence than just the uncolored drawings. By the time class starts tomorrow, I’ll have some sketches to share. This has been a fine celebration of Earth Day!

Howler Wakeup

April 20

5:24 am, El Remanso Wildlife Lodge, Osa Peninsula

The howler monkeys started roaring at 4:55am and are still going strong half an hour later. In addition to the “oooooaru, arooooo, rooooah!” are some “woof-woof-woof” calls, then more moaning roars. It is an extraordinary way to wake up.

I’m sitting in a basket chair on the tiled patio in front of our room in the increasing dawn light. The sun comes up every day about now, and sets around sixish pm, so we’ll have to get up with the monkeys to get the full benefit of the day. People go to bed around nine here, so we’ll still get our sleep!

A Tico (a friendly name for the Costa Rican people) is singing a Spanish song down in the kitchen, so I went down and fetched back a cup of delicious coffee. Ahhhh……. Birds are chattering in the tall trees overhead, and for a few minutes at about 5am the cicadas pulsed with a sound like those bamboo rain tubes, a high-pitched rattle of short bursts – breathtakingly lovely.

Yesterday we went down to the beach and tested our trail legs. The lodge is on a high ridge, with heavily forested ravines on each side and a steep trail down to a lovely, wild Pacific beach. Just out of the restaurant, we were met by a 30” iguana snoozing on the trail, then down near the beach we spooked a mama coati mundi, called pizote (pee-so’-tay) by Ticos, with four kittens. She galloped away with one in her mouth while the other kittens bumbled, clueless, after her.

We didn’t stay long on the beach – it was a very high tide, with the water almost up to the edge of the forest, and it was late in the afternoon, so after a short ramble in the sand and an inspection of hermit crabs taking shelter up the buttressed trunk of a forest giant, we headed back up to the lodge.

Going down took a bit more than fifteen minutes. Coming back took me closer to forty-five (Dan’s in better shape. He made it back up in less than half an hour). I didn’t mind returning slowly, though, because I got to see a lot of cool things: the trail overarched with blooming scarlet hibiscus flowers with frilly petals and fuzzy hanging tongues, brilliant blue and purple hummingbirds guarding them fiercely; a slim vine snake (harmless) crossing the trail then twining up a shrub to safety, and the leafcutter ants. I'm having trouble taking sharp photos in this dim light!

On the way back up the hill I collected a leathery tubular canopy flower to sketch, dropped from high above. I'm eager to start sketching -- I've turned my journal on its side and I'm writing on the left half and leaving the right half of each page empty for drawings. Since a page looks really bare without any pictures, that encourages me to keep sketching. I've also collected a little hatched bird's egg, and now I see a bug on a plant. Time to draw!