Although I’ve appreciated the phenomenal beauty resulting from an ice storm, after the fourth full day of being dislodged from my house and living out of my car (minus the sleeping, which is indoors), I have had moments of frustration. However, I was grateful for the warmth of the day, which enabled me to make several hours’ worth of sketches based on a McDonald’s eatery. There is a lot of complexity to the clashing planes of plastic forms, reflective lights on cars, and small snatches of nature wedged between the “golden arches” and the fluttering American flag. After two distinct drawing passes, I was better able to simplify a variety of competing elements, and to build the main scene in terms of large shadowmasses. Visually, I became excited as I used graphite to weave a distant chain of mountains behind the obstacle course of plastic signage. I also became more and more able to discern the interior space, with people feasting on their nuggets. I am feeling more and more confident that I can build a strong visual design with this theme, but I have not yet incorporated the essential figurative element, which addresses malnourishment and poverty. I was amazed at how an equal number of restaurant patrons sat in their cars, sometimes in groups, solemnly eating their meals in the parking lot. I loved the way a pair of flags ripped and tore in the strong wind, and the overcast sky above.