2025.01.25 Near Atigun Pass, Brooks Range, Alaska

This drawing completes a small series prompted by reading Tom’s Crossing by Mark Z. Danielewski, where extended passages describe the difficulty of moving across unstable, unforgiving terrain. While reading, I kept returning to memories of traveling near Atigun Pass—seeing slopes of loose stone rise in every direction and wondering what it would take to cross them on foot.Here, the scree is no longer distant. The ground fills the foreground, dense with broken rock and uneven surfaces, while the mountains press in behind it. Line work becomes more compressed and insistent, tracing fragments rather than pathways. Gray washes build weight and texture, emphasizing instability and the effort required simply to move forward.Part of my ongoing Morning Practice series, this original drawing reflects how reading, memory, and physical experience converge—how imagined journeys and lived landscapes can meet in a single, concentrated act of looking.