HERE
How famed artists use commonplace tools and techniques
See how renowned artists — from George Seurat to John Singer Sargent — used chalk, crayon, graphite, and charcoal to create quick figural sketches to polished portraits at a new exhibition on show at the Harvard Art Museums. “Sketch, Shade, Smudge: Drawing from Gray to Black” will be on show in the Special Exhibitions Gallery through Jan. 18, and features more than 120 European and American drawings from the 19th to 21st centuries. The exhibition showcases figural, landscape, still-life, and abstract drawings from the museum’s collection and private lenders, including works rarely viewed due to their light-sensitive nature. Highlights include Edgar Degas’s “After the Bath, Woman Drying Herself,” a large charcoal drawing on tracing paper; Seurat’s “Woman Seated by an Easel,” a work in soft conte crayon that achieves a look equivalent to the artist’s pointillist paintings; and Charles Sheeler’s photorealistic conte crayon drawing of his cat, Duke, in “Feline Felicity.” Several sections of the exhibition show the inventive ways that artists manipulate the materials on the page by, for instance, scraping, shading, and smudging. Here, you’ll see two drawings by Sargent that utilized charcoal with erasing and smudging to render subjects engulfed with billowing drapery. The exhibition hosts in-gallery talks and tours (next talk Sept. 25 and next tour Oct. 15), and a chance to attend sketching sessions with live models (keep an eye out for dates beginning in October). Free museum admission. 617-495-9400, harvardartmuseums.org
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THERE
This festival honors sheepherding traditions and cultures
A unique festival in central Idaho celebrates the history of sheepherding in the Wood River Valley and the many cultures this annual tradition brings together. The Trailing of the Sheep Festival takes place Oct. 8-12, when herders move about 1,200 sheep from high mountain summer pastures down to their winter grazing areas following the same path taken over the past 150 years: Right down Main Street in Ketchum. Watch the sheep make their annual migration and enjoy five days of related events that celebrate the sheep-ranching families and the Basques, Scottish, and Peruvian herders. Watch the National Qualifying Sheepdog Trials featuring 80 of the country’s top handlers and their border collies; enjoy sheep-shearing demonstrations, live cultural performances, and a chance to shop for sheep and wool products at the Sheep Folklife Fair; and take one of the 22 classes or workshops on creating with wool during Wool Fest. The festival also hosts numerous culinary events, including tastings from local restaurants and street vendors, farm-to-table dinners, and cooking classes (all lamb-related), and a storytelling event when university experts discuss “arborglyphs” or historic cultural etchings made in the aspen trees by Basque sheepherders during their travels. Prices for events vary, but many are free, including the Big Sheep Parade and performances and demonstrations at the Sheep Folklife Fair. www.trailingofthesheep.org
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Haul your hefty loads in this sturdy roller bag
When you need to travel with a sizable load — ski gear, winter clothes, or even your kids’ clothes packed in with yours — you need a sturdy suitcase to secure everything and make transporting it a breeze. The new AllHaula Roller 90L bag, made by the company 5.11, works great for swallowing all of your gear — offering 90 liters of space — and easily toting it to the airport, hotel, or car. The wheeled duffel has a reinforced back panel and rigid ends, which help protect the bag’s contents and make it easier to transport and maneuver. It has a cavernous interior with a padded panel and straps for cinching down your load and holding it in place, and two large mesh pockets on the inside lid. The lockable main zipper offers peace of mind. Slip your travel documents or luggage tracker into one of the two smaller zippered exterior pockets for easy access, and a magazine or guidebook in the larger zippered exterior pocket. The water-resistant roller bag also has protective bumpers on the outside, smooth-rolling wheels, a durable telescoping handle, and multiple grab handles. $375. www.511tactical.com
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KARI BODNARCHUK
Kari Bodnarchuk can be reached at travelwriter@karib.us.