Sunset at home - Karl Marx Allee

 When the day gets longer and longer it feels wasteful sometimes not to utilize it to the fullest. There is a convenient green patch dividing the 2 directions at Karl Marx Allee. The traffic is chaotic and noisy I know, but the view is also superb (which could not be said to many other neighbourhoods I've lived in) To the east there is Frankfurter Tor, to the west the Fernsehturm. I really didn't even bother moving, just turned and faced the other direction to work on the second one.

Eastward View

Westward View

Nikolaiviertel - Round 2

 I really felt like I didn't do Nicolaiviertel justice in my last attempt, so I decided to swing by again on Sunday (since I can't bike far anyways with my sore legs) after dropping a book off at the library. 

Really happy with how this one turned out. Nicolaikirche's back garden and a small restaurant to the right. I went a little too hard on the blue in the beginning, but the overall balance still worked out...kind of? I stood on a shaded sidewalk and rested my stuff on the huge window sills. But I also stood above a ground vent and *almost* dropped my brush down there

I wondered through Nicolaiviertel didn't find anything that caught my attention + pedestrian traffic free + allowed me to stand in the shade (it was sizzling under the sun, but perfect temperature in the shade) So I ended up wandering out of its perimeter and into the Innenstadt Park) The Poplar snow was dancing through the air, the Dom was half in the sun. It was perfect. I'm also perfectly aware I looked like a creep,  standing unmovingly in the shade for longer than necessary, when everyone else was relaxing under the sun. So I only lightly sketched a few people in the end so as to not draw even more attention to myself.

I literally just filled up on my May Green pan a week ago, now it is already almost empty. I am really using green like there is no tomorrow

Ascension Day @ Glienicker Brücke

 The stars have aligned on Ascension Day: sunny, not too hot, and only a weak breeze. So I decided to shoot for the farthest target yet: Glienicke Bridge at the border between Berlin and Brandenburg (Potsdam) 32km one way from home, so in total a 64km ride. This is by far the best looking Berlin border I've seen...the southern and eastern ones were kind of meh...the bike infrastructure was also fantastic (by Berlin standard) all the way into Potsdam.

I stood on top a stone bench to get a broader view, and the sun was definitely burning my right leg

After sizzling in the sun for ~30 minutes, I decided to find a shady spot to cool down before heading back. There was not anything remarkable in the park nearby, but the strong shadows from the trees made for an interesting composition (really, green leaves and sun will make anything look nice) I first sat down on an empty bench to rest my legs and think about next steps, but then an old lady came by, said Hello and then sat next to me on the same bench (?). I was a little shocked so quickly moved myself away from the center of the bench. After 2 minutes I decided it was too awkward and so got up and moved myself and my bike to the below vantage point. Maybe I'm too introverted even for Germans...ooops

On the way back I really had to force myself to concentrate on riding, because even the most mundane neighbourhoods looked super nice in the afternoon sun. Thankfully, this distraction helped me reach home stress free despite my aching legs and growling stomach.

Green, lots of green, and lots and lots of green - Berlin Parks

Swung by 2 parks after reorganizing my pallette a little the day before. I introduced "Bordeaux 362", which turned out to be a very powerful cool red, and "Naples yellow" (in designer gouache), to help with my opaque needs, and took away "Sepia Brown" (I can't even remember when I last used it)

Bürgerpark Pankow. I was surprised by how peaceful it was, even at the goat pen! There was even some nice music

Volkspark Friedrichshain. This one was a little more lively, but there were still a lot of quiet spots. The shadows from the tree were the most entertaining! It wasn't always sunny, but the sun was out often enough for me to capture the (occassional) shadows