Branches Against an October Sky, Catskills, NY

On Saturday, I headed a couple hours north of NYC to the Catskills, taking the afternoon to walk from Rosendale to High Falls, two small towns on a tributary of the Hudson River. It was about a five mile walk through a mountainous area, and I had a chance to crunch some leaves, look at the yellowing foliage, and enjoy multiple hot coffees.

In addition to my DSLR, I like to photograph with the vintage camera app on my phone, not because the pictures are particularly great, but the colors that the camera comes up with as it attempts to replicate old types of film and plastic camera effects make great inspiration for future drawings. Because the detail is muddy and the colors are otherworldly--either super amped, warmed up, cooled down, or muted, they make me think of paintings or charcoal drawings, or at the very least--interesting color combinations.

I've been particularly interested in organic patterns on leaves and things lately. Normally, I like to draw the same sorts of things I like to photograph--people and buildings, signage or other signs of human life, but a printmaking project involving these patterns in nature is percolating in my head.