Mountains I Love and Draw

April 10, 2024

I love hiking mountains. It is such an achievement to make it to the summit and look down on the world below. I spent the first week of the year hiking the Atlas Mountains in Morocco. The dry, rocky landscape, with oasis of green date palms in the valleys, is simply stunning. You can’t beat sleeping under the stars in Africa … except it was January … and freezing cold!

 

I once flew in to Calgary, Alberta and roamed the Canadian Rockies in an RV for a week. I loved the views of the snow-capped mountains that emerge from aqua marine lakes. There’s plenty of them in my illustration of the Canadian Rockies, my favourite being Lake Louise with the magical Fairmont hotel (who commissioned the illustration) overlooking the beautiful, still water.

 

Heading south, we find ourselves in Lake Placid, where I have never been but drawing the Lake Placid Legacy Sites was one of my favourite illustrations. Those ski jumps look absolutely terrifying … but the bobsled looks fun!

 

I will never forget however, walking up Mount Snowdon on New Year’s Eve in the late 80s. Dusk descended upon us quickly and we had to run downhill to get back home before we were in the dark. My legs ached for days. Can you spot me heading off in the mountains on another hike in my illustration of Snowdonia?

 

When I was a child, we went on a camping holiday to the Isle of Arran in Scotland. I remember the endless rain and hiking up Goat Fell with family and friends. We were in a mountain mist at the top and couldn’t see a thing. Here I am again pointing the way upwards in my illustration of the Isle. The following year we went to Majorca.

 

The American state of mountains is … Montana! I have never been to Big Sky Country but have flown over it several times and my face has been practically glued to window each and every time. I am fascinated by the many miles of mountain peaks, snow-capped, liked iced cakes, row after row. Montana is home to the Rocky Mountains and lots of amazing wildlife, some of which is can be spotted in my illustration of this amazing state, where one day, I hope to hike.

 

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