Autumn at the Piers

Followed the SF sketchers to the Embarcadero again over the weekend. Even though I was praying for rain (so I don't need to worry about washing my car anymore), having a perfect sunny day at the end of October felt nothing short of a privilege. Unlike summer months when I need to wait for hours until the sun start casting some shadows, the sun is noticeably slanted throughout the entire day, illuminating buildings that usually are shrouded in shadows. 

It was almost noon when I arrived at the Ferry building and the shadow was already stunning despite its being the middle of the day. I picked a spot perched above the sidewalk. There were quite a few homeless people lying on the grass around that area, but I found myself a spot right next to a bike rental stand. (I usually take Caltrain and bike whenever the meetup is along the bike path at the coast, but I am getting lazier by the day now that I have a car and could park conveniently at Daly City) 

I decided to add the streetcar that came in halfway through the painting, but it was a little hard to notice in the sea of warm colors lol. The sun did felt really warm though!

Second piece was done facing the Golden Gate Ferry Terminal and the Bay Bridge in the background. There was still a little bit of haze from the wild fire up north, so the East Bay is a little blurred from the view.

Worth it for the redeye: Pier 3 + Hornblower

In order to attend this SF sketcher meetup at Pier 3, I negotiated at length on the phone with the travel agent to book a redeye flight to Japan. The dilemma was (1) I really want to attend the meetup on Saturday (2) My boss wants me in Japan Monday morning. As it turns out, all the flights to Japan depart around noon in the bay area, meeting the 2nd requirement but invariable crushing my sketching plans. In the end, I convinced the travel agent to book me on a midnight flight out of Los Angeles, arriving in Japan 5am in the morning on Monday... god knows why the redeye is only available in LA, but it certainly saved my day (or weekend rather) Onwards to enjoy the nice and sunny day at the Piers!!

The tiny yellow boat caught my attention as I was walking to the meeting point. (It almost killed me, however, when halfway through the painting, the boat sailed away with a group of passengers...it did come back after 15 minutes lol)

Onto the Hornblower boat. I was originally only planning to draw the buildings lining the Pier (between Pier 3 and 5), but there still was a bit of time left when I finished and it looked like the painting could naturally extend itself to the Hornblower moored next to it. I thus quickly proceeded to block in the sky, hoping that the blues match~

Verdict: definitely worth enduring the redeye!

Not quite on location: SF Ferry Building at Sunset

Partly from imagination, partly from memory...since all the Ferry Building has in front of it are palm trees.

1915 Ferry Building + Bay Bridge sunset

The "1915" lights were reinstalled on the Ferry Building to commemorate the centennial of 1915 Panama Pacific International Expo. Loves the moment when the setting sun lingered on the numbers! 

Today is also one of the rare days here that feature dynamic clouds (instead of the plain blue sky). The sunset was spectacular...

Farmers Market, Ferry Plaza SF

Finally remembered to replenish my (unfiltered) honey stock this Saturday! And...I just realized I forgot the colour in the cute Corgi standing beside the second tent from the right lol