Things I Think People Think: Beaufort, South Carolina

I have this unquenchable thirst for adventure these days. "A Psalm of Life" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow has been stuck in my mind of late. It's a poem about living life to its fullest. That the end, ie the grave, is not the goal of life. Bettering ourselves by living in the now and working towards the future is what life is about. John Maxwell said, "Some days you win, some days you learn."

About a year ago, I made a promise to myself to adventure as much as possible. I think part of that goal is my entering of middle age (44 years old presently). The sages talk about working hard for the first part of our lives. We struggle, we build, we completely max out our energy for survival. We build a foundation for the future. Sometime around where I'm at in life, there seems to be a transition to using what we've learned and built. It's no longer about survival, but more about enjoyment.

For me, that seems to come with going places and doing things, having what I would call adventures.

I booked a plane ticket earlier this year to visit my brother-in-law, sister-in-law and niece in Beaufort, South Carolina. I had never been to that part of the country and let me tell you, based on the challenges of getting there, I can see why I had never been. That being said, I thought it important to see where my family had moved to in 2020, during the pandemic. The trip coincided with my niece's birthday. She and I have been corresponding by snail mail (pen-pal'ing) since the end of last summer and she peaked my interest with her wonderful accounts of life (along with her parents sending pictures).

My goal had been to get a lot of drawing and painting done while there. Various work projects prevented me from getting everything done that I wanted, nor seeing all the sites that were on my list. However, I had a fantastic trip. It nourished my soul to spend the time with people I love in a place that I totally understand why they love it. It's beautiful down there.

Drawing 1, Day 1: Lowcountry Cider and Superior Coffee

My first full day, I hung out downtown. I grabbed a coffee at the Superior Coffee shop and bought some cookies. I sat on a stone wall behind the coffee shop and started this sketch. It started raining while I was working on it, so I had to bail early on drawing. However, I was able to wrap it up the next day (hence why the umbrellas and people look a little different).

The fauna was distinct here. Behind me was the river and an interesting drawbridge that rotates 90 degrees in order to let ships pass. Spent a lot of time in this area over my visit.

Drawing 2, Day 2: The Castle

After finishing the coffee shop drawing, I went wandering in the historic district right off the main street of Downtown Beaufort. Many of the homes have placards that explain the history of the homes including one home that was where "The Great Santini" and "The Big Chill" were filmed. The district is about 9 square blocks and is lined with incredible live oaks and riverfront views.

I wanted to figure out how to draw these live oaks, since I thought they were so different than any tree I'd ever seen. Wandering around the district, I was looking do a sketch of a subject that contained a live oak, wasn't a white house, and had a place where I could sit; not an easy task. Fortunately, I was able to chat with a couple of locals which always makes me feel more connected to the area.

I kept coming back to this one place the locals call "The Castle."

I found a spot to sit in that had the cover of trees since I knew the rain was going to come again. The Castle is surrounded by a high fence, so finding this spot was fortunate since the framing using the gate would be a fun element.

I started my sketch. The owner was out for a run with two younger gentlemen. He (mid-50's) was trying to keep up with these two youths (early twenties). We chatted for a few minutes when he came back. I asked if it was ok to be sitting where I was and he said it was fine. I think he enjoyed my distracting him while he was catching his breath.

My brother-in-law is protective and kept texting me weather updates while I was working on this. Time became an element to contend with.

It did start to rain, but I had a coat that I used to try to cover myself and my drawing. Rain adds a unique dynamic when you work with water-soluble graphite and water colors. My color use on the Castle turned out a little more yellow than I had hoped, but I was rushed.

I loved the little cannon in front of the gate and the lightposts that had real flames going.

Me painting the Castle in the rain. I don't look "sketchy" at all...

Drawing 3, Day 3: Bostick

I have such supportive and loving people in my life. I brought a pad specifically so I could make a picture for my family. Their house is in such a lovely neighborhood. As soon as I walked into their home, I felt the warmth and familiarity from all the years I've been part of their clan.

Across the street from their place is some kind of electrical box. Coming from Colorado, I'd say that although the weather wasn't warm, there was a humidity that kept me chillier than expected. Sitting on the electrical box was like a heated seat.

Porches seem to be a big thing in SC. I'm told the locals paint the underside of awnings blue so the spirits think it's the sky and don't get trapped on the porches. The walnut-like trees in front looked liked they had seen better days, but I was assured that they are just not on the same schedule as everywhere else (late to bloom, late to lose their leaves)(have no fear, I'm told they're sprouting leaves now).

Being my own worst critic, I wish I had done the tree on the left a little differently, but my family was quite happy when I gave them this painting. Interestingly, no one had a ruler in order to frame in the sketch. For my niece's birthday, I made sure to add a ruler to her hodgepodge of artistic and writing-themed gifts.

Drawing 4, Day 4: Hunting Island

As I said before, work really kept me from getting out to explore everything I had hoped. I did set aside a few hours though to get out to Helena Island with my brother-in-law. He took me to see the "Boneyard" which was a neat area that changed dramatically in the last 20ish years after a major hurricane washed out the beach. I got to fly my first drone around with a virtual reality headset which was a really neat experience.

We then went to see the lighthouse. We had intended to climb the steps to the top, but it was closed for repair. The building has already been moved once, and it's expected to need to be moved again in the next 50 years as the beach continues to change.

This was my final sketch of the trip. It was done in my small sketchbook. I like doing these loose sketches and need to do more in this style. I used a grey marker for the first time to do the shadows. Over the years, I've experimented with many tools to get dark areas and shadows done - from diluted inks to water brushes, pencils to water soluble graphite. I think this marker setup might be a winner for my smaller works. TBD.

Wrap up:

It was so great to get to spend the better part of the week with family.

One Last Thing:

I've been enjoying watching "Schitt'$ Creek." There's a town sign in the television show that often shows up. The first episode has them add the extra sign that says "Don't worry, it's his sister."