Sketching on the Road...

This past spring I've enjoyed traveling twice to Joshua Tree and the Mojave Desert town of Twentynine Palms--in March and again in May.  As much as I love my city, Los Angeles, I love the contrast of the desert--the wide open terrain and slower pace of life.

The trip always begins (happily for me) with passenger sketching...

Sketching life and my friends in the desert makes me feel right at home there...

Every desert trip includes at least one visit to the Country Kitchen in Joshua Tree...love this place not just for the great breakfast, but the wonderful atmosphere, a mix of the homey and exotic...

And then there is the Twentynine Palms Drive-in movie theater--what a treat to watch a movie wrapped in a blanket under the desert night sky munching popcorn!  "Zootopia" in March, and "Jungle Book" in May...(have to admit here that color was added a bit later from memory!)

 One of the things I love about these desert visits is painting what has now become familiar landscapes with media I want more practice in...gouache paintings in March and May on the outskirts of Twentynine Palms.  March's painting on a yellowish handmade paper, and May's painting on Canson Mix Media Artboard (ideal for gouache!)  More gouache painting to come!

 And of course, there is Joshua Tree National Park...I can never get enough of those rocks and that beautiful high-desert terrain.  Experimenting in thumbnail sketches with the set of Kuretake Gansai Tambi opaque pan watercolors I bought in Singapore...

A dry, drought-ridden landscape in Barker Dam...

And I keep returning to a favorite spot in Hidden Valley...

And finally, the drive home, back to the city...