2026.05.15 North Yuba River – Sierra City

This drawing came from a camping and painting trip I took several years ago in the Sierra Nevada near Sierra City. I remember being struck by the cold, clear water of the North Yuba River and the way the dark pines and granite boulders framed the river corridor.There’s something about river canyons in the mountains that always slows me down — the sound of moving water, the shifting reflections, and the contrast between deep shadow and bright Sierra light. In this drawing, I tried to capture that quiet rhythm with loose ink lines and layered grayscale washes, allowing the darker shapes of the trees and reflections to anchor the composition.Even years later, places like this stay with me. Drawing them again becomes a way of returning.