A Travel Sketchbook…

[By Virginia Hein in Southern California] Several times a year I make the trek from Los Angeles into the Mojave Desert–well, maybe trek isn’t the right word, it conjures up a dusty vision of walking alongside pack animals in merciless heat, while I’m fortunate to ride “shotgun” in an air-conditioned car and sketch all the way!  Here are some sketches from the last two trips, in March and again the end of May.  If it seems here that I’m switching media constantly, that’s about right–one of the great pleasures of these trips is trying some new media with familiar landscapes…

On the freeways from Los Angeles to the desert, as the terrain becomes more open and expansive…

Sketching on the outskirts of the desert town of Twentynine Palms…

Enjoying breakfast at the Country Kitchen in Joshua Tree…

And then there is the spectacular beauty of Joshua Tree National Park, which I can never get enough of…

Drive-in movies were a big part of my childhood–as they were all over the United States, but mostly they’re long gone, except in Twentynine Palms!  What a blast to sit out under the stars eating popcorn while wrapped in a blanket, watching “Zootopia” (color added a bit later)…

Then, finally it’s time to head home back to Los Angeles, and more freeway sketching!