Artisans on Asphalt: an Illustrated Journey!

5/27/2017

A few weeks ago, I made the trip from Walla Walla WA to Hood River OR whiles straddling the back seat of a 1978 Honda CB400TI. The wind was harsh and the heat was brutal, but no other conditions could make for a better trip.

Our first day wasn't so lucky with the weather. Jared and I awoke to rain pelting the rooftop, a voiceless indication that we had to wait. We continued to pack instead, filling bags, bottles, and containers. The next day, the rain let up. Jared lashed the bike with our various items; one sleeping back, a tent, a road map of the Northwest, two glass water-bottles, one hairbrush, loose papers, graphite, and sketch pads . . .

. . . and we set off!

Below is a small selection of 30 second scribbles I made in my pocket-sized sketch book while on the trip. We passed through Tricities, Umatilla, Celilo Lake, and The Dalles.
Take a look!

1978 Honda CB400TI

This sketch was made while Jared strapped, tightened, and lashed items to the bike. In this sketch, we only have the black crate, red box tent and a few side bags ready to go. The bike's true color is jet black - but I wanted to be able to differentiate between the various sections of the bike in my sketch book!

Our first stop was at Celilo Lake. We set up camp right beside the Columbia river. Across the river, into Oregon, the hills were laden with spinning wind mills. The tall brush rustled in the roaring wind. It was great to be able to do a little live-research around Celilo to get more context on a current client job.

In the morning, we re-packed our belongings and filled up in Rufus. In this sketch, I got a better depiction of the items we brought along; that sleeping bag took up a lot of space! Not in this sketch is the enormous backpack we lugged around.

After rugging it for a few days, we stayed at a beautiful lodging in Hood River. We expected to ride all the way to New Port, but the beautiful scenery in this small city was just enough to call it good. The lodging had walking trails and a gorgeous view from the balcony. I scribbled a quick doodle of a batch of yellow flowers - their bright colors reflected my invigorated mood. The pines smelled of fresh cedar.

Back to camping! We rode up to the Mt.Hood National Forest and hiked the wild trails. I came across a lonely deer bone. No other traces of the deer remained other than this forearm, fur still coated the lower portion. I took a quick note of it and we continued on our way.