Crater Lake Aug 23, 1885 (from Sketchbook X) 1885

William Trost Richards created this graphite on paper drawing, "Crater Lake Aug 23, 1885", to capture the scene before him. Note how the composition is split across the sketchbook’s two pages. The central crease acts as a stark division, almost like a structural rupture in the landscape itself. Richards employs a limited tonal range, with subtle gradations that evoke the textures of the mountains, water, and foliage. This reduction to essential forms provides the structure of the landscape. The mountains are rendered with rough, energetic strokes, contrasting with the smoother treatment of the water. Richards destabilizes the picturesque conventions of landscape art by emphasizing the immediacy of the sketch. This piece resists easy categorization. It invites us to consider the interplay between the material reality of the drawing and the idealized representation of nature.