PURPLE MOUNTAINS

I grew up in the mountains in Northeast Pennsylvania and although I didn’t hike as much as I could’ve, driving home through the mountains of Delaware Water Gap was always a reminder that home was close and the city was behind me. At least for a little while..

When I moved from the States to Busan, South Korea (a very mountainous place!) I would take the cable car up Geumjeong mountain with friends and eat duck and drink maekgeoli and the idea of life amongst mountains warmed my heart in a new way. A friend pointed out how the image of fading grey and purple mountain ranges felt so Korean to him and I think about this a lot. My Pennsylvania mountains didn’t feel this way. They were both special but completely different.

I drew this for ‘The Great Outdoors’ challenge by @theydrawandtravel and @uppercasemag.

The prompt was: What natural landscape would you pick to express your creative personality? What are the textures and palettes of these natural places? Are you drawn to wide-open prairie spaces full of grasses and wildflowers or vast blue oceans of undulating waves? Do you love a horizon of jagged snow-topped mountain peaks, or do you prefer lush green tropical rainforests? Let your mind wander as you ponder the landscape that feels most like YOU!