An Iowa lowlander visits the Mojave High Desert of Joshua Tree, California: Part III

Junk and making creative use of junk seem part of High Desert culture around Joshua Tree, California, where my husband and I spent a week earlier in March. At the rental house, a rusted out Chevy pickup, permanently marooned in the driveway, served as a firewood bin. Our initial days were cool, but finally warmed so drawing outside was comfortable.

Often when doing a watercolor, I first sketch with a warm grey Faber-Castell PITT artist pen, which is permanent Indian ink.

Rusted Out Chevy scanned once home.

A cactus garden, using cattle troughs and old red oil drums, was along the driveway-facing side of the house.

So much fun to get messy with my Neocolor crayons!

My last drawing before leaving the desert was in the guestbook. A quick ink sketch--a view from inside with cactus close to the house, rocks in the mid-distance, and mountains beyond.

Good-bye to the desert.

See Part I and Part II of An Iowa lowlander visits the Mojave High Desert

An Iowa lowlander visits the Mojave High Desert of Joshua Tree, California: Part II

                          

The morning of the first full day of our week long stay in Joshua Tree, I woke to dawn, framed by the silhouetted, jagged, boulder ridge, across the dry wash from our rental house. Affected by the change of altitude (3,800 ft above sea-level to Iowa's 810 ft), I slept poorly for the entire stay. The vastness and predominance of earth-tones of this stark landscape is awe-inspiring and daunting to my green-hungry, Midwesterner eyes.  Drawn from inside on Fabriano coldpress watercolor block with soluble 9B graphite stick, watercolor, and white Derwent colored pencil (7"W x 10"W). February 26, 2012.

Me on a hike on the other side of the ridge, pictured in the drawing above.

A 5B pencil sketch in my my pocket-size Moleskine of the Wonderland Ranch ruin in Joshua Tree National Park, February 29, 2012, while hiking the Wall Street Mill trail:

We saw lots of wildlife, both from the house and on hikes. Gambel’s Quail skittered around within view of our windows. A bobcat slunk by everyday and peered in at us. We saw coyote, jackrabbits, and kangaroo rats. On one hike, I came upon a paw print of a mountain lion in fresh mud.  My husband crossed paths with a fox carrying a freshly killed rabbit in its maw.  But the only record, either drawn or photographed, of fauna was this quick 5B pencil sketch in my carry-everywhere, pocket-size Moleskine.

Gambel's Quail

(misspelled in my pocket-size Moleskine and wrong date year!)

This ends the second installment of my Joshua Tree adventure and set of drawings. Still more to come from the High Desert.  Then onto what I drew the following week while staying in Venice Beach, a quaint corner of the Los Angeles metropolis. 

An Iowa lowlander visits the Mojave High Desert of Joshua Tree, California: Part I

My husband and I had visited Joshua Tree National Park two years ago. Again for a week, we stayed near the  northern part of the park, which is the southern Mojave High Desert.  On the first trip we did lots of hiking; I took photographs, but did no drawing. I've been yearning to return. This time I drew.

Rocks--Joshua Tree

Our rental house was surrounded by a jumble of  rocks. Their forms are endlessly amazing. Late in the afternoon, I drew from inside the house. It was cold (40F-50F) the first several days.  Also, I was feeling the affects of the higher elevation. The older I get, the more sensitive I have become to changes in altitude (~3,800 feet compared to Iowa's 810 feet). The drawing above was done in a Canson, sand-colored, archival sketchbook (9" W x 8" H), using Derwent earth-tone colored pencils that I had acquired especially for the trip.  The photograph below, which included the house, shows the larger landscape.

Joshua Trees are another distinctive feature of the landscape. They are a form of yucca. They remind me of something from a Dr. Seuss storybook!  This is the time of  year that the Joshua Trees flower. If they do flower, which is not every year and dependent on rainfall. The average annual rainfall in the Mojave Desert is 4.5 inches (compared to Iowa's 33 inches!). There has been even less rain than usual, so unlike our previous visit, we saw few of the large gaudy, white flowers at the ends of the limbs.  I drew this in the Park from the protection of the car--again, too cold and also windy. The same Canson, sand-colored, archival sketchbook (9" W x 8" H), this time using a 9B water soluble graphite stick and a white, Derwent colored pencil.

There was fabulous landscaping close-in to the house--plants requiring some, but minimal watering. From the kitchen window, in the morning, looking west, the sun coming up over the roof of the house illuminated this paloverde tree.  The zingy, green bark against the blue sky and the distant mountain grabbed my attention. It also was an opportunity to add to my inside-outside series.

I used my Neocolor II water soluble wax pastels in a Canson, black, archival sketchbook (10" W x 12"H).

This is the first installment of my Joshua Tree adventure and set of drawings. More to come from the High Desert. Then, I'll show you what I drew while in Venice Beach, a quaint corner of the Los Angeles metropolis, for the second week away from Iowa winter.