Through rain and shine, Vancouver

October usually isn't the time of year I would recommend family and friends to visit Vancouver, since it is when the weather swings from dry to wet and daylight hours shorten to a point where there is no doubt summer is officially over. However, it just so happens that my best childhood friend was able to take time off during this period and fly over the Pacific Ocean. I repeatedly warned her of the relentless rain that is typical of this season, so as to lower the expectation and not to ruin her first impression of my adopted beautiful hometown. I myself packed many warm clothes and was ready to leave the Californian sun for a few days.

What a pleasant surprise! I couldn't believe my eyes when I woke up basked in sunlight the next day in Vancouver. Oh wait, maybe not so soon...A light drizzle started falling on us as we were in Richmond doing some grocery shopping. As my friend was busy with some personal errands, I strolled along the new walkway along Fraser River and was captivated by how the low-hanging clouds melted into the mountains. Such a different scene from California! I quickly pulled out my (new) sketchbook and worked under the slight drizzle (you could see a few droplets made into the painting :D)

Thankfully the rain stopped just as I finished my first piece. As I walked along river bank, I noticed a bustling construction site with bright colors and imposing cranes. A few years after I left Vancouver for college, a construction boom has swept the city and vicinities. Societal impacts aside, I find that the colorful cranes and machineries really break up the sea of monotonous glass condo buildings in Richmond. It happened to be the Friday before the Canadian Thanksgiving long weekend, so I sketched while eavesdropping on the workers' excited conversation about the weekend ahead...and boy did they leave work early that day (before 4pm!)

Later that day we ended up having dinner downtown. It was a beautiful evening...but also torture on my soul as I sat drooling over the colors unfolding outside but had to focus on the food and dinner conversation (granted, dinner was really good!) Finally, as dinner concluded the host suggested a viewing at a nearby special effects theatre. Remembering that I get motion sick easily, I quickly excused myself and was able to get the last 20 mins of sunlight all to myself. This is the view looking at Vancouver Convention Centre from the ferry terminal. The dark clouds against the bright sunset in the background was stunning. 

I was busy the next few days escorting my friend around town, but managed to squeeze in this quick one under the drizzle, again, as I wait for the group to finish lunch at Granville Island. I really liked the way downtown West End melted into the distant hills. I had to put in the finishing touches after getting back to the food court, because the drizzle kept melting away any details I put in haha.

 The last one was done in Air Canada Lounge in Vancouver airport as I wait for my flight back to San Jose...while munching on some cookies. I can't help feeling melancholy whenever I had to sit through sunset in the airport and take off in complete darkness...thankfully more sunshine awaits in California. See you next time, Vancouver!

Chinatown at Mid-Autumn Festival

I've never had the chance to sketch at SF Chinatown. I only remember a few brief shopping trips or detour after eating there. I really enjoyed the cluttered and colorful scene. The first one I leaned against the fence of a Chinese Sunday School (I think). A few kids were being picked and dropped off. I remember one girl was trying to get my attention but I just ignored here lol. 

The view down Waverly Place is quite striking with the 2 imposing buildings. Unfortunately I didn't realize that my colors were getting super dark from the previous painting, so the bright colors were more subdued in this piece...

A bunch of updates at once!

I haven't updated in a long time, probably because I don't have much free time at work to type away...unlike at my previous job. Also my seat is along the main walkway, so there are people walking by all the time...not exactly an ideal situation to work on one's personal blog!

Below from July 27th, when attending a calligraphy demo / exhibition at the SF public library. SF City Hall is always a challenge to draw. I find the curve and subtle blue hue of the dome especially hard to capture. This time I decided to forgo the color and focus on the shade and shape, which had some pretty good results.

Below from Aug 4, when attending a sketch meetup with SF Sketchers at Mission Dolores Park. I remember it was supposed to be a Caturday event, but as far as I could see, there was no single cat in the entire park. (Mind you, the park was full of people!) I did a panorama first then headed somewhere with noticeable shadows.The lady in the silhouette was playing with her infant kid, but I was too lazy to include more figures lol.

Below from Aug 18, also attending a meetup with SF Sketchers at Fisherman's Wharf. Unfortunately I was terrible at finding parking at high traffic areas, so I gave up after 2 loops and headed for empty Fort Mason (thankfully there was no event that weekend). The parking is not free, but hey Flax art supplies is right there!

After finishing the first one I headed towards Fisherman's Wharf and did another one at Maritime Historical Park. I actually had to stop midway and head for the show-and-tell, then came back to my perch. Thankfully the light didn't drastically change (phew

Getting my weekly building fixes

After a week in South Bay, it is always nice to visit SF and breathe a sigh of relief that tall buildings still exist. Really every corner in downtown SF can become an interesting sketch, unlike in the suburbs where it is just trees and cars and highways.

After I made the devastating mistake of forgetting to bring my palette and brush pen, I gave up on the idea of sketching crowds at the Ukulele jam and headed to Market Street for some quick building fixes. I still have tube paints in my bag, but I can't find any surface large enough to squeeze and mix paint on. In the end I had use the lid of my water jar as palette and only chose 3 colors because any more than that I won't have space to mix paint in.

The building with the unique roof on the left caught my attention. It is the Mutual Savings Bank Building (1902)

Honestly I'm surprised that I was able to churn out a decent sketch out of a lid, although it is mostly a tonal sketch lol. Also just as I was about to get to filling in the details of the cars, the traffic jam suddenly stopped and there was no more than 2 or 3 cars waiting on a red light. Needlessly to say it's not the first time that I'm unhappy because there's no traffic.

Escaping the southern heat, but went to the other extreme

Over the weekend, temperature in South Bay is projected to be close to 40 degrees. Given that I don't have the option of staying later in the office to escape the heat, and that sunset is very late in the evening, I was glad that the meetup for the week was taking place at Fort Point, one of the most windy places in SF!

The fort itself is situated right under the ramp of Golden Gate Bridge, right on the coastline. I've drew in and around this location for a few times already, but there's always some color variations every time I visit. The sea appeared especially green on this occasion. And since I arrived relatively early before noon, the further bridge pillar was casting a really interesting twisted shadow on the distant hill (probably because of the curved slopes) I also found myself a nice parking space facing the scenery, so I could spread out my supplies on my front windshield (no need to balance them on a pole anymore!) while I leaned against my car.

After completing this piece, I ventured on top of the roof of the fort. It was already freezing inside the structure (I assume the open top let all the captured heat escape) I had my drawing pad flip against my face at least twice while I was drawing. Even as we had a break between to share the sketches and chat in the sun outside, I cannot feel my fingers after finishing the two pieces. Only then did I come to appreciate the heat retained by my car under the sun.

Vancouver, from the roof

I was back in Vancouver for a super short stay a couple of weekends ago. Since it was mid-summer, the sun is out until very late in the evening. Even as I came home in the evening, ordered take-out from my favourite sushi place, napped 1 hour on the sofa waiting for the order (yes, the wait for takeout on a Saturday night is usually 1 hr), ate the food, drank some tea, there is still some colours left in the sky! So I grabbed my painting supplies, popped open the skylight, and documented the sunset sceneries from the roof top. 

One side of the apartment faces the quiet residential neighbourhood which is under a construction boom. As is everything in Vancouver, the houses are only somewhat visible under the huge spread of trees.

Even as I finished one side, the other side was still displaying some amazing colours! This is the side facing the more bustling shopping street, agains the backdrop of distant coastal mountains.
Honestly, this is probably the longest I've spent on the roof. I remember popping the skylight open only when it is unbearably hot or for an apartment tour.

Adding opacity to the painting, Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park

Another weekend excursion joining the SF Sketchers. Honestly I would have never noticed the lake (Stow Lake) and boathouse had the meetup not taken place there. Since I usually bike through the park, I never paid attention to this lake off the main road. 

Since I arrived very close to the end time of the meetup (insert blame on lack of motivation on weekend and SF traffic) I quickly got to work as soon as I parked my car. This little snippet is probably only a few steps away from my car, but it had a nice shade and a perfect view to test out adding gouache to watercolor. Ever since I saw James Gurney's video on drawing a water scene with gouache, I was hoping to attempt it myself. The combination of blue highlight, greenish refection in the distance (transparent), and the closer warm shadows from the trees (somewhat opaque) really makes a perfect testing ground. 

I'd say the drawing turned out much better than I thought, given I had very limited time.  The opacity really added body to the painting and put more weight to the shadow area. 

After finishing the show-and-tell session, I followed what everyone else had drawn and headed for the stone bridge. The green of the water really stood out, so I tried to bring it out as much as possible. The dark areas with added gouache really bring out the contrast with the bright green. Several boats/paddleboats made their way through the bridge, so I put two in also ;P

The Chinese Pavilion is the centerpiece of Stow Lake, situated on the island. I decided not to get too close to the pavilion (mostly because I was tired and hungry and still munching on my boathouse hotdog) and drew it from across the lake. The sunlight was shining at a nice angle on the roof of the pavilion, and gouache was able to save the day again by allowing me to add a few white beams back to the pavilion~

Lots of snow, plenty of clouds: Donner Pass and the Sierra Nevada

After coming back from the 2-week work trip in Asia, I joined a small group of artists on their annual retreat at Donner Lake the following weekend. Since I already told my boss that I'm ready to leave my job, the trip was also a rare chance that I need not to think anything about work, which was on top of my mind since the beginning of the year.

I thought I left early enough on Friday afternoon, heading east towards Lake Tahoe, and boy was I wrong. I hit 5+ min solid traffic jams in at least 3 places heading out of the Bay Area, the worst of which was Walnut Creek, followed closely by Vacaville and Sacramento. At first I was driving hoping to catch dinner, after clearing Sacramento all I was hoping for was to reach my destination before nightfall. I grabbed a quick bite to eat in Auburn (quaint little town, but somehow the proprietor of the only Chinese restaurant in town refused to speak Chinese with me...) and barely managed to get there before the last light disappears. (A wise decision because the parking lot does not have lighting, neither does the uphill trail leading to the lodge) The lodge itself was nice and cozy. Despite the initial crisis of finding out the staff forgot to leave my key out, I settled in smoothly. The ancient heating system produces a thundering noise overhead, but heck I lived across from the I-280 for 2 years, so after a little getting used to the rhythm and I fell right asleep.

The next day was packed with unusual sceneries to admire. The old train sheds ran miles along the mountain. It was difficult to find my footing inside the dark (and wet) tunnels, but exploring it without artificial light and simply letting the eyes slowly adjust definitely felt like the right way to do it!

It was overcast most of the morning, and the sun just barely poked through the clouds close to lunch time. I quickly put the shadows on the cliffs in place before the sun disappears again (unfortunately along with its fleeting warmth)

Back in the cabin after dinner, I decided to give my newly bought casein a proper trial (I blended some in the first painting, but didn't go far with it) Unlike my normal sessions that are usually subjected to weather and constantly changing lighting conditions, drawing an indoor scene gave me much more freedom in spending as long as I wanted on a certain detail. Even more so that it is with opaque paint, because I'm often able to go back and paint over areas that I'm not happy with. Also the room was warm and cozy so why not take my time?

Another casein-dominated piece done while sitting next to the train track. A train actually came along and I waved back on the passengers. (Since it is a rare passenger amtrak train, I assume it is California Zephyr?)

A final one before heading back to the Bay. I wanted to do one with the classic lake-mountain-reflection and this tiny pond is located conveniently next to a parking strip.

And yes, I do need more hiking practice to aspire to be an artist.

A Round of Ports: Busan, Shimonoseki, and Hong Kong

I was asked to fly out during the weekend a couple weeks ago for work in Korea. I regretted my decision to sacrifice my weekend but really had no reason to refuse. As I took on the much dreaded trip (departing Saturday morning, arriving Sunday night, then starting work Monday), I was met with the pleasant surprise that there is going to be a factory-wide shutdown the following week and all other factories in nearby countries are in Golden Week holiday. I've never really had more than one day of weekend when traveling for work, let alone whole 3 days! (Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday)

I wanted to see a little bit more of Korea, but also didn't want to miss the chance to go to Japan. So instead of flying out directly, I took a train to the closest major city, Busan, then rode a ferry from Busan to Fukuoka.

Since work ended early on Saturday, I had most of the afternoon to walk around Busan and enjoy the beautiful weather. I didn't expect Busan to leave much of an impression on me, since I figured it won't be much different from other Asian port cities I've been to. Boy was I wrong... Busan was surrounded by hills offering stunning backdrop to the busy port and numerous high rises. I tried to find a walkway closer to the waters and somehow ended up on an empty stretch of walkway along the piers. (there was exactly 1 person that went by in the one hour I was standing there) He muttered something in Korea (which I took to be along the lines of "oh what you're drawing here?!") and I returned a polite laughter of approval. 

I was under the impression that large ships dock forever, which was wrong, as the giant tanker left just as I was putting finishing touches on the distant hills. Throwing fist and protesting in its direction certainly did not help. Soon I looked like an idiot hallucinating of a large ship, so I quickly packed up and went on my way finding dinner.

 I arrived in Fukuoka around noon the next day. I was worried about the ferry ride because of my pathetic ability against seasickness, but the hydrofoil boat felt more like a bus than a boat when it was at speed. More than anything, I was glad that I could finally order food without guessing! I was never so happy when I saw the Kanji written on buildings as we approached the port.

After dropping of my suitcase and finishing up some shopping, I departed for Mojiko/Shimonoseki, along the strait separating Kyushu and Honshu. There weren't many tourists, even though it is the beginning of Golden Week in Japan, probably because most of them are heading to eastern Kyushu where there are hot springs and resorts. I quickly located my target: Kanmon Bridge, and set out painting this piece with a boat in the foreground.

The tour of ports ended in Hong Kong, where I met up with my parents in the last day of China Golden Week (Tuesday) After they set off to the airport to catch their afternoon flight, I decided to scout out one of the lesser known attractions of Hong Kong, Checkerboard Hill, usually associated with the old Kai Tak Airport. There was no clear signage for the place so I poked around online blogs and google reviews. Unfortunately most of the directions for the vista point were from 3+ years ago, and every single one of them contained explicit instructions to jump over fences and find holes in wires. It took me 3 hikes up the same mountain to find the actual checkerboard! I almost gave up after my 2nd attempt and decided to just look up at the hill from the nearby tennis court. However, right after I refilled my water bottle at the tennis court and was enjoying the gentle breeze, I saw somebody descending down the hill behind me. The hill was so clearly fenced off that I thought there was no way that person could make it...but he just bent slightly and walked through a barely noticeable hole in the fence!! (There was so much vegetation behind the fence that you can't see the hole unless specifically looking for it) I basically stared at him open-mouthed as he headed down to the tennis court. He then noticed me and told me something in Cantonese (I didn't understand him, but I assume it's along the lines of "you can reach the top of the hill from there"). I asked if this is checkerboard hill, but he seemed to not know the name. So I thanked him and walked gingerly up the steep stairway. I admired the spectacular view above the trees and paid my respect to the peeling colors of the original checkerboard pattern. After hearing and seeing it so many times online, I finally was able to see it with my own eyes (albeit not touching it, because I'm slightly afraid of height lol)

Spring in San Jose: Rose Garden and Rosicrucian Park

It has been quite a while since I was last at the San Jose Municipal Garden. I vaguely remember a unsatisfactory ink drawing of the fountain and being jokingly asked to include a portrait when I was working on a rose. Even though it is really close to where I live, I still preferred driving 1 hr one way to San Francisco than staring at roses and trees all day. That said, I was still looking forward to painting with fellow sketchers in South Bay.

There were a lot of merry-making people in the park, including families and friends taking commemorative photos. I thought most of the flowers would be gone after the rain storm the previous day, but the flowers were surprisingly resilient and I saw plenty still fully blooming.

We moved over to the Rosicrucian Park/Egyptian Museum a block away after lunch. It is an entirely different gardening style from the Rose Garden, with several walkways criss-crossing the foliages. I sat down on a bench in the shade (because digesting lunch was taking up too much of my energy) and chose a scene that is of my weakness. (not a lot of clear shapes, complex details) But since I was sitting and sunlight was consistent, I patiently worked my way through the layers of plants.

Gardens of Alcatraz

I was fortunate enough to get a spot to join the SF Sketchers in the Alcatraz tour over the weekend. When I signed up for the event 1 week ago, I was dead last at 18th on the waitlist. But by some divine intervention, I was confirmed to go the afternoon before the day of the event!

It was such a short notice that I had no time to rethink my decision to get up at 6am. To catch the staff boat we had be ready at the dock by 8am. Given 1 hr driving time, no prior experience parking around Pier 33, and the need to get breakfast and snack for the day, I gave myself a full 2-hour buffer. I was brutally awaken by my alarm, scrambled my stuff together, and then drove a couple minutes in the dark amidst light drizzle to a nearby donut shop (which opens at 5am for some unknown reasons...) I was expecting a dreary little place with no customers, but was pleasantly welcomed to a brightly lit and spacious diner with a handful of people already eating! Although I still have no idea what they're doing at 6am on a Saturday... I got my breakfast (tea and donut) and snack (breakfast burrito), then headed off North as the skies slowly brightened up. 

I scouted a parking location w/ good review the day before at nearby Pier 27. I did notice the side note saying no public parking is allowed if a cruise ship is docked there, but ignored it nonetheless since I don't recall seeing a single cruise ship in all my years in the Bay Area! As luck would have it though, I saw a cruise ship docked at SF for the first time that morning.. and that means of course that I had to find somewhere else to park...fast! (I did find an unlimited time meter on Lombard street in the end)

A volunteer guide from the Golden Gate Park Conservancy walked us through 3 gardens on the island. Two of which are normally off-limits to visitors. You could still see the gardens from usual walking paths, but getting down a level to the garden itself really offers an entirely different view! This one, for example, has the garden, Warden's House, and the Bay bridge! This piece alone justifies the early morning Odyssey from South Bay for me.

Here's the piece with the actual view. It was really when we got on the island that the sun started poking out of the cloud, which came as a total surprise to all of us. Given the rain storm the other night, I packed all my rain gear and brought my most waterproof bag!

When I was drawing this, I heard a mom telling her son, "No, she's not a prisoner, she's a painter!" The part in the audio guide about prisoners painting must have really got into his head haha.

In the end I had to head back on an earlier ferry because I thought the event end time is the time we get back to the mainland... so I didn't put enough time into the parking meter... oh well~

Before the shops are open: morning stroll through Yanaka, Tokyo

I successfully negotiated my way to a 20-hr layover in Tokyo. (a full-day stopover would have costed +4k to change, and it took a whole night of sleep for me to figure out that I could achieve a similar result by having a super long layover instead!) The only catch is that I needed to pack very carefully so as to bring just the right amount in my carry-on bag because I wouldn't have access to my suitcase until 30+ hrs later in the US. 

Minus sleeping time, I really only had ~6 hrs of free time in Tokyo. The extra long queue at immigrations the night before had left me exhausted. It was probably the longest I have waited at the NRT immigrations: close to 1 hr in a line snaking multiple loops. This is because my choice of day unfortunately fell on the eve of the tomb-sweeping long weekend... (I was expecting crazy crowd in Tokyo because of the insane line, but the town was actually quite normal otherwise) Thankfully I still managed to get up, eat, and check out of the hotel before 10. I made a point to eat more than I felt like because given my schedule I'm fully aware my next meal will probably be on the plane. 

This is my first time intentionally stay in Nippori neighbourhood, given its proximity to my first destination Yanaka/Sendagi and being endpoint of an airport express. Yanaka is known as one of the last Shitamachi's of Tokyo where small shops and grocers still line the street. In fact, when I was sketching at a street corner, I can hear neighbours greeting each other as they set up their shops or running morning errands on their bikes. 

Looking down at Yanaka Ginza (main shopping street of Yanaka) from the top of the stairs. A steady stream of tourists and locals huffed and puffed their way up the stairs.

The delivery guys were so incredibly efficient that I was only able to capture a quick silhouette. (Guy in the red cap was doing some morning deliveries in his van)

Drawing in the rain and ... Portraits!

Since this weekend's event with the SF sketchers was later in the afternoon, I actually had the time to arrive in the city early enough to stop by somewhere else to paint first. Mission Creek Park was just a couple of blocks away from Arch Art Supplies, so I parked my car by the neighbourhood and strolled along the creek looking for good vantage points. 

I was planning to draw the other side of the creek (since I did the boat side last time), but on closer inspection, it is really just new condos and trees - nothing too eye catching. Then I spotted the bridge (on 4th street) and the view at the end of it gave a wonderful view of the creek, distant hills, and the criss-crossed ramps. Just as I pulled out my drawing supplies though, I felt something light and cold on my head and thought uh-oh... the ripples on the water surface really left no doubt that it *just* started to rain. I half debated to take shelter in Philz next door and just wait it out, but in the end decided to hell it, I'm going to draw in the rain and just see how it turns out. 

I hid under a medium-sized tree, which stopped the constant drizzle, but just had bigger droplets of water coming down once-in-a-while (hence the blobs on the bottom right corner) In the brief intermission between the drizzle, I was able to put in most of the details. The wet climate really made the reflections in the water blend in beautifully. As the drizzle started again, I quickly packed up and walked to my car in the awkward position of holding my watercolour pad upside down.

The portrait party at Arch was fun as well. We took turns posing for each other and it was a huge relief that I can finally stare at/sketch people without any fear of retaliation. It is a long-time weakness of mine that I could not sketch people in public without worrying about being discovered.

Very very early on a Sunday: Santa Clara Mission Cemetery

I was able to join a few sketchers/painters in South Bay for a paint out at Santa Clara Mission Cemetery a few weekends ago, thanks to my manager canceling my work trip the night before. I never really painted much around the area I live, so I was pleasantly surprised that this beautiful and serene location was only 10 mins away from my apartment. 

On my own I would probably never come by because it is not my normal painting subject, but it was a nice change of pace to wander around the old cemetery and capture details that normally went unseen.

This little bird stopped atop the angel right as I was about to finish the piece, so I promptly added it in. One of the nice things about having extra long exposure time...aka, painting instead of taking a photograph, you always get plenty of time for the key players to gather. 

As the sun hid underneath the clouds in the afternoon, I started looking for scenes with more structure to compensate for the lack of light/shadow. This is the front view to the Old Mausoleum. The rows of tombstones, trees, and distant mountains really make it a very orderly scene...as well as a systematic painting process.

Exploring CCSF

This was another opportunity to explore a totally new part of San Francisco, thanks to the SF sketchers meetup. We gathered at the City College of San Francisco (CCSF) to admire and sketch Diego Rivera's mural, Pan American Unity, in the aptly named Diego Rivera Theatre. It is located in the lobby of the theatre entrance and spans two stories. It is quite difficult to sew the details of the mural by standing on ground level, so it was really helpful that guests can climb onto the 2nd floor and observe the artwork at eye level. 

After standing indoors for a while, I decided to checkout the school's terrace. There were two sports field under the terrace and the ground was filled with students playing sports and cheering, not to mention the motivational background music! The neighbourhood was very densely packed so it was difficult to draw in all the houses, but I did my best :P
I also successfully dodged two missionary people by spotting the keywords on their pamphlet and skillfully dodged conversation.

Before I had the chance to leave, I noticed this magnificent tree and its long shadows. So I had to sit and draw it as well~ The Sutro TV tower is just tall enough to poke up in the background

Putting People in the Foreground, a few snapshots in the city

I don't usually put people in my landscape watercolors, mostly because by the time I finish with the scenery I'd be too exhausted to include any people. This time, however, some figures managed to find their way into the foreground of my drawings.

This one is from Fort Mason, before I went into one of the buildings for a figure drawing session. At first I was captivated by the silhouette cityscape in the background and palm trees, but as I worked my way down the page into the greens, it felt a little empty... then I noticed a couple sitting by the curb! Generally I don't sketch people too close to me in fear of being mis-interpreted as a stalker (which unfortunately has happened before) but this time it seems the figure is simple enough that I only need a couple of minutes actually looking in their direction.

I was initially unsure of the result, but the more I look at it the more interesting it becomes... it feels like the figures are almost adding more complexity to the drawing, like it's actually telling a more complete story.

The next figure-in-scene I attempted was before my visit to Asian Art Museum in Civic Center. I usually draw the building from the front, but I decided to change things up a bit and draw it from up close and angled. The light revolves around the dome as the day progresses, so the building never quite gets boring to look at. There were a few people on the plaza in front of the building (I assume some are homeless, some are resting), so I decided to include in the man sitting at the base of a light pole.

Since I was standing next to the paid parking lot (while using its stand to put my water jar) I was also semi-observing the parking situation at Civic Center. For the record, no spot was left empty for longer than a minute.

High Dessert Panorama: Reno, Nevada

Had a chance to swing by Reno last week and the views did not disappoint! I was used to seeing the mountains from a distant in the Bay Area, but driving along the highway in and out of Reno literally put me right next to the mountains. The angled winter sun added to the complexity of the hills, creating different layers of shades. Unlike in the bay area where some bushes still poke through the hillside, the soil here is really able to show its true colours.

I was particularly captivated by the tall industrial plant between the valleys. The desolate landscape, coupled with the lone towering structure is something I rarely encounter (to be honest, this was what I imagined Australia would look like, but the real Australia turned out to have rolling hills and lush greens) I ventured on and off the highway before I found this spot that I could park (it was in front of a trail) without drawing too much attention (the rest of the roads off the highway had very little shoulder to pull over) It just so happens that the railway line always run through here, so I was able to squeeze in a couple of cars on the right.

Rocks and rocks and more rocks, at the foot of Golden Gate Bridge

I was came across this location and sketched more than a year ago, except that was when I needed to be in Presidio but ended up at Fort Point because of a mix-up when searching in GoogleMaps. Fortunately, it made finding the place this time extra easy. I pulled into the first parking lot I saw after getting off the high way (on top of the east battery hill) and then descended down the slopes to Marine Drive. 

After doing some interiors of Fort Point (I totally thought it was a solid building from the outside, but it had a huge open courtyard in the middle through all 3 floors), I decided to get some sun outside. 

The shadows under GG bridge isn't very dramatic at this hour, but it is always tons of fun trying to get the perspective correct. (You could see my missed attempt: the red smudge on the left)
There were a lot of boats crowding around the second tower. Turns out there was a major boat race, Three Bridge Fiasco, going on and the contestants were having trouble going against the flow of water gushing out to the open sea.

After gathering to discuss our results at Fort Point, I settled to do another piece facing the other way. There was a sharp contrast between the dark hills and the bright skyline in the background. I left the skyline alone most of the time, because the rocks took an endless effort. A gentleman passing by waited, commenting,"I want to see you do the water". Unfortunately 20 mins later I'm still working on the rocks...so he left ;A;
 Maybe waiting till high tide is a good idea

ps. I never seems to realize I drew a slanted horizon until I scanned and looked at it in Photoshop. Ughhhhh

Figure Drawing, round 3!

Went on another around of figure drawing at Fort Mason. It was my first try at the toned paper sketchbook I bought last time at Arch. It is very easy on my eyes and takes watercolor very well. The paper itself is also very smooth so I found it easier to add in details than previous times with my usual Arches paper. 

The 10-20 min room with packed with people, so I took the armchair down the centre aisle of the classroom. It was a nice change that I could finally sit back and rest while figuring out what to put on my paper. (Usually it is either standing on the sidewalk dodging pedestrians, or trying to avert my gazes from time to time so that my subjects don't get suspicious...) 

Guy with red flag

Model in Chef costume (the hat was a delight to draw!)

I messed up a bit on the arm area...oh well

I went in with a white charcoal for outlines since I'm using a toned paper. I think it worked out very well with the watercolor since it doesn't stand out too much or repel water like crayons do.