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.