Drawing was ultimately the foundation for all of FitzGerald’s art. Here, he uses graphite, perhaps his favourite medium, to capture the prairie sky and penetrating brilliant light under which FitzGerald would sit, exposed to the elements.

He said, “The only way I can account for the extreme delicacy of the pencil drawings is because of the terrific light we have here. The drawings always look strong enough when I am working on them outside, otherwise I would not be able to do them but when I get them home they have the feeling of having faded on the short trip.”