One of my favorite winter outings is to spend a few days at Yosemite Valley. I would rather go to the Eastern Sierra mountains, but the mountain passes are mostly closed during winter months, which makes for a much longer drive than usual. For a quick winter outdoor fix, the valley is a great place to visit during the weekend. That year, I noticed there was snow forecast right on my birthday which happened to fall on a weekend as well. The closed-in valley is awe-inspiring as is; the snow enhances those jagged rock formations all the more, making the whole area breathtakingly beautiful. So, there I was, spending my birthday playing in the snow with my camera and my sketchbook.
As we left after work, we got there late at night. I usually try to avoid driving during storms as chances of rockfall go up significantly on those mountain roads. Thankfully, by the time we got there at night, the storm had passed, leaving behind a beautiful blanket of snow glittering in the moonlight. This pristine powdered snow would last only for a couple of hours in the morning. I am a night owl, but luring me out at dawn with snow is an easy task. My husband I were out and about shortly after the sun came up behind the surrounding mountains.
El Capitan Meadow is my favorite meadow in the valley. The black oaks there look so beautiful against the golden rock face of El Capitan. I always spend a lot of time there.
Right across, there is another grove of black oaks. That day they looked gorgeous wearing fresh white snow, side-lit by the sun.
Please Click on the image thumbnails to see the photos.
We walked around the rest of the valley floor with not a care in the world. As the low winter sun melted the snow, the surrounding trees started pelting us with snowballs. I always find that to be a lot of fun and I giggle every time that happens. A snowball fight where the trees always win.
It was a clear, bright day with occasional low clouds here and there. El Capitan is a master of capturing those low clouds.
As day rolled into late afternoon, the usual mist appeared on the meadows. I love to spend that time split up between taking photos and working in the sketchbook while sipping on something hot as it is usually very cold outside.
This is where I drew this scene sitting in the car. Instead of going for the more iconic features, I drew what was in front of me with pencil. I wanted to leave it as-is, but my husband loves inked drawings. So, later on at home, I used an ink pen for all the lines and a white gel pen for the snow.
Here you can really see the lines that I had to remove to make a clean copy for printing. I wasn’t sure at the time, but after quite a bit of work I did manage to remove all the page lines from the drawing and make it into a book.
While playing with different book cover ideas, I fell in love with the French Fold. The cover board wraps over the edge into the inside of the book making it look stylish and elegant. This also makes the binding more stable.
Please Click on the image thumbnails to see the photos.
I hand made all these books in hardcover with French Fold. As the paper I use in these books are great for writing and drawing, I have been using them for my Japanese studies, as well as travel notebooks and art study sketchbooks.
Even without ever mentioning it here, the Yosemite In Winter books have been the bestseller in my shop. That’s the magic of Yosemite, I think. You can purchase the notebooks from my shop.
Season and weather change often, and Yosemite changes with them. During the winter months, a sudden snowstorm decks the trees and the granite faces with powdered snow and turns the narrow valley into an enchanting place. Then the sun peeks out behind the cloud, making for such drama as only mother nature can write. All I need to do is tap into that energy. This one is also the start of my National Park sketchbook series. I am looking forward to drawing the unassuming features of these beautiful parks.
Until next time,
-Soma
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