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~

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.

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...

Hawk Hill overlook, Marin Headland, SF

Second time on Hawk Hill and first time seeing the bridge not covered by fog! The lights on the bridge and from the cars started to show through as dusk set in. The Bay bridge is also visible in the distance on the left...and I crammed the hills on the right together just to fit in the TV tower haha