Following the Wood Grain

Start with a small piece of split wood and a pencil. Look for a line in the grain that continues from one end to the other.

In the field notebook

Trace the line without straightening it. Place your tracing over a sketch of a plank and rotate it until the fibres follow the length of the piece. This is a way to picture the shipwright’s decision when choosing how a timber should lie in a Viking hull.

Mark a knot or a change of direction, then redraw the plank outline around it.

Further reading at the Viking Ship Museum ↗