We made really good time on the return trip from Burbank to San Jose.  I painted the weather vane yesterday without the knowledge that there was indeed a storm brewing north of San Francisco and would be unleashing its torrents on San Jose by evening. So instead of taking the scenic route home along the coast, we headed for ‘the 5’ (Los Angeles speak for Interstate 5). This is an inland route and a straight shot to the environs of San Jose. When I say ‘straight’, I mean straight. But it is an hour shorter than the coastal traverse, so there was no question that we made the right decision.

Today’s watercolor experiment:

I still had a little energy left after 5.5 hours of driving, so I thought my experiment today would be a visual summation of the drive home.

I began with a loose sketch of the ‘road more traveled’ (aka, ‘the 5’), the obvious feature being the vanishing point. The ‘scenery’ along the side of the road varied from a sandy, tumble weeded tableau to rows and rows…. and rows of trees. If I wasn’t chained to my steering wheel with my eyes glued to the vanishing point in the distance, the hypnotic sirens of the orchards would surely have taken their toll.

Process:

I paved the road with Payne’s gray and neutral tint, leaving room for the dotted center line. A variety of greens colored the scenery on either side of the highway.

The clouds in the distance were a result of lifting off neutral tint and Payne’s gray pigments with a paper towel.

The final touch was the superimposition of the view from inside my eyeball at about hour 4 of the trip. The bloodshot look is due to cadmium red light.

Comment:

This study is a summary of the entire trip. Of course there were other distractions along the way: an interminable series of semi trailer trucks to pass; wide loads; pickup trucks with bales of hay; and flatbeds with interesting-looking farm equipment. All things considered though, it was an uneventful trip. And an uneventful trip is a good trip.