Thanksgiving in Philadelphia

 I joined my friend from Junior High at Philadelphia for Thanksgiving. After a 2-hr drive from Shenzhen to HK, a loooong flight from HK to SF, another long flight to hop over the continent (during which I almost lost my phone after being startled from my nap by a mother and kid trying to get to the empty seats next to me...thanks god the lady across the aisle found my phone inside her purse just before landing ;A;), yet another 2 hrs waiting at the terminal for the next train to Philadelphia, and finally a 1 hr sleepy train ride. That was in total 2+12+6+1 = 21 hrs JUST in transit. Thanks to the magical time difference, I still managed to arrive on the same day I departed!

Time to enjoy some glorious sunset in Philadelphia!

I swore it was like this when I put on the colours, but the next moment I looked up it was completely dark...

 Since my friend was busy finishing her homework, I took a walk along Schuylkill River (fancy name...) in the drizzling afternoon. When you've got bridges after bridges along a quiet river, there's never enough things to draw.

And finally, the Boathouse Row! It was starting to get dark at this point, so I put on the colours when I got back later. Strangely a jogger approached me when I was drawing, and said, Hello, you really do look like someone I met here I few days ago! She said she just came from China a month ago~! To which I was ready to respond, well, to be honest I just came from China a week ago

Chaos and colours in the City!

 When I was on my way to the SF Sketcher meetup in SOMA, I came across this chaotic scene on Townsend and 6th Street. Hard to imagine that across the train lines on the other side are all brand new high-end apartment buildings, while this side is filled with old industrial warehouses, graffitis, and tents. There's hardly even anyone walking by at noon. I was first reluctant even to put my bag down, even when I had my hands full with my painting black, palette, water bottle, and brush, ready to run at any sign of danger. But 10 minutes passed with no sign of change while my shoulder starting complaining, so I set my stuff behind me and remained standing. Guess working in a sketchy location is one way to push myself to paint faster lol

 And this is it, the SOMArts Cultural Center. Colourful buildings with very interesting pots of plants in the garden! (if you are careful enough to bend down and pay attention :P) The center is located in a sketchy location too (tents everywhere surrounding it), but since there were plenty of fellow sketchers painting in the garden, I even left my bag on the ground to grab some supplies indoor. Sometime it's good to have company!

Plants in teapots and bird cage. Anyone fancy a fresh brew?

Fog at Fort Mason and first figure drawing session!

 Since even the earliest Caltrain couldn't get me to the morning session of the Figure Drawing event, I hung out on the hills overlooking Fort Mason and drew the foggy landscape while waiting for the afternoon session. (Turns out the there was really no cut-off entry time for the event, but I was too scared to intrude in late anyways...) Since this is where all the cycling tourists pass by on their bike tour of the coast (and who inevitably all stop and rest because it is the top of the hill after a steep climb), I put on my earphone to avoid any noise......and to avoid mistaking the wows' aimed at the scenery for my painting instead :P

As a self-claimed landscape drawer, I had to admit figure drawing is much harder than I imagined. My pen just refuses to curve! (especially my first attempt, first one on the left page)

The event was organized by SF Models' Guild...and man were the rooms crowded!

What inevitably happens when I draw skies...Concorde!

At first I was just practising drawing skies (and clouds) on the new watercolour paper...but every white space under the sky is tempting me to add something there...and what inevitably happens is...Concorde! Of course :P

Biking and Sketching @ Sunnyvale and Mountain View

One good thing about biking with sketching gear is that I could stop at any location when I find something interesting. Which is the case here when I just stopped dead in the bike lane on Miramonte Avenue when I came across this interesting building. Since there was no non-trespassing signs on the gate, I just walked straight in. The courtyard was quaint and quiet and nicely shaded, a direct contrast with the rushing traffic outside. I further googling, I found that this complex has been serving as a senior care community for over 50 years, funded by a Christian society. A staff came and said hi when I was sketching (didn't surprise her at all, I'm probably not the first one to sketch here) According to her, the buildings themselves are actually over 88 years old. Impressive for Mountain View!

Just time to catch the sun setting behind Washington Park when biking back through Sunnyvale!

Coit Tower & Filbert Steps, SF

A PG&E walkin van stopped right in front me when I was just starting to put in the colours. I was mildly annoyed at first, but one of the drivers promptly greeted me as he got off the van and had a very nice attitude. So I decided to draw their van in as well (I couldn't really remember the details of the car...but the blue stood out!) Lots of tourists coming and going, but I found an empty spot in front of a garage door to spread out my supplies.

The Angel's Trumpet blooming half way down the Filbert Steps made such a impression that half of the sketching group included them in their drawings. I had to kneel down the entire time to get the bridge to line up with the flowers (note to self: tired and shaky knees are not a good idea when you're sketching on a steep slope)

Final thank goes to my employee badge, which stood in for my bulldog clips that I forgot at home.

Sunshine and palm tree in Sunnyvale, CA

Drawn to be sent as a postcard. I actually got lost on my way to my original sketching destination, but thought that this place looked pretty good already! (and the tall palm tree was perfect for the postcard) I can feel the heat that noon coming straight out of the drawing... almost got a heat stroke on my ride back lol