I walked up the gorge from Vuiteboeuf to Sante-Croix. Half-way up I paused to sketch this amazing rock formation.
It was an ideal place to sketch, under the trees.
As I sketched, the silence was broken by thumps and scrapes behind me. A bear? A tree fall? A rock avalanche? No. A mountain bike rider descending the path at speed. These riders are skilful – they jump and bounce, and turn in the air like dancers.
I saw one in the distance as I navigated a narrow part of the path. Since there was a steep drop on the right hand side, I flattened myself against the rock to give them room. But there was no need. The rider brought their bike to a graceful halt, slipping sideways like an ice skater. They grinned as I greeted them. “Il faut du muscle” they said in response to my comment on the steepness of the path. Yes, you have to be strong. And have a sense of balance, good eyesight and rapid reaction times. And courage. After I passed, they backed up their bike and jumped on, to hurtle off down the slope.
My sketch took an hour. It’s on Arches 300gsm paper, with Daniel Smith watercolours. The colours I used were:
- Permanent yellow deep
- Serpentine genuine
- Cobalt teal blue
- Burnt Umber
- Buff titanium
- Perylene maroon
The pen drawing is with a fountain pen, Lamy Safari, with De Atramentis Document Black waterproof ink.
Jane Sketching 
Thank you @penwithlit!
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