Oakland Museum of California, 2nd round!

 I headed to the Oakland Museum of California with the SF Sketchers meetup. I've only been here on a previous sketching trip with the SF Bay Area Urban Sketchers, but the quality of the exhibitions left a good impression on me. 

While I was waiting for a friend to join me, I started sketching on the roof (although technically it is also the ground floor since the entrance is on the roof-level and everything else is underneath), which offers a good view of Lake Merritt. (Since last time I came it was after dark, so I had no idea it had such a good view) there were also a few people practicing skateboard in the small square to the left. When I showed this piece to my parents, my dad could instantly tell that the hills in the background are the East Bay hills, even though he's never been to Lake Merritt...only possible after years of driving up and down Berkeley

This was my most memorable exhibit from...I think 2 years ago? I'm glad to see it is still there :D

The intense expression on the animals were so captivating that I decided to do another sketch of it, this time in B&W with my new favourite brush pen.

Just off the Highway: Gate Vista Point

I drove through I-280 between San Jose and Millbrae almost every weekend. At first it was just small hills one after another, but when I reach around the intersection with Highway 92, the mountains open up and from the highway you can see to the distant costal mountains (in their misty blue colour) as well as the reservoir between the valleys. The scenery gets even better when the morning fog moves through the valley in the sun (but I haven't got a chance to paint that yet)

 I did my extensive research on Google Maps the night before and had my eyes set on this parking lot right off 280. It was very spacious and a few people were already there enjoying the scenery from inside their cars. You can see the highways in the distant. Because of the clouds, the sun disappears and reappears frequently, but long enough for me to remember where the shadows were~ When I was drawing, an elderly Asian gentleman walked up to me, asking if I'm Chinese. To which I replied sure, yes I am. Then he told me he is Japanese. So I started talking to him in Japanese, telling him that I've worked there before. Quickly both of us realized that his Japanese is nowhere close to my proficiency (since he said he moved here when he was 6, I'm guessing he didn't have much chance to use it afterwards) Since he had to use a lot of English words to complement his Japanese, I then switched to entirely English, thinking that will make it easier for him. However, he looked surprised that I suddenly switched to English...then I found out that his English was broken too...The conversation was getting difficult and he was also starting to get to some personal questions, so I just packed up as I was finishing up my first piece and moved to different spot. America sure is a strange place :P

The way the sunlight breaks through the mist and lights up the fresh grass in the front really caught my eye. As I was working on this piece, an Indian family came up and all took a look at my drawing (the dad even took a picture of it~) And then a little girl and her mom walked by, and the little girl told me excitedly that she found a cat in the bushes on the right. 

One fine afternoon in Campbell

 After exhausting my options at Santana Row, I thought I was probably done with all scenic architecture to draw near my apartment (which unfortunately situates itself in a bland suburb) Campbell, a town few miles away, came up as an option when I was planning to go biking again at Los Gatos Creek Trail (also in Campbell) And Google timely suggests the Campbell Heritage Theatre as a point of interest. The slanting sun, the red roof, and the calm fountain; I wish there's more of these places near me! There were also very few passer-bys on foot, so I can spread out my stuff and worry about blocking anybody.

After that I headed to my usual biking spot, Los Gatos Creek Trail. The sun setting over the reservoir was so stunning I convinced myself to paint another piece. Just as I was admiring the pink hue and taking my time to mix the colours, the sunlight disappeared from the trees to the left, then the walk way...I thought it was a cloud covering the sky, but it turns out that the sun is just about to set beneath the hills to the right. (Now I understand why people living in valleys complain out short daylight periods!!) I was scrambling for my darker paints and filling in the shadows for the trees when the sun completely disappeared on me...so I ended up relying on my memory to finish the reservoir and reflections. This was probably the most intense sketching sessions I've done...thanks Mother Nature, appreciate the lesson

Counter activities: Barebottle Brewery

More than the counter scenes, I was still recovering from the harrowing experience of trying to park behind the brewery. Hint, it was on a steep hill; also, I drive a manual. So after making some unnecessary engine noises, possibly scaring the car behind me and the pedestrians passing by, I gave up parking on the hill and headed up to park on top of the hill...still took me more than 10 mins though

There were a lot more people than I expected. Thankfully our meetup group has already taken 2 tables in the middle so I had some place to sit down and recollect myself. I rarely draw people as the focal subject, but I had no choice now that I'm at a crowded brewery haha

Question Mark and its surroundings, SF MOMA

Joined the SF Sketchers at SF MOMA. The original plan was to draw the atrium and perhaps the exhibits inside the museum, since it was forecasted to rain. However when I got there, the sky was dark, wind was howling, but there was no rain! Okay, just some tiny drizzle here and there. Since the museum forbids any kind of water/paint media inside the buildings, I decided to try my luck outdoors and see how long I could hold off the rain... Turns out there is indeed some artwork outside, namely Chris Johanson's giant inflatable question mark (I thought it was a giant snake in the beginning)  Since I'm at a modern art museum, I decided to try cropping my field of view and focus on the lines instead. Hence the vertical and horizontal sliver below

w/ the carpark next door

view from ground level

After the group session was done, I headed outside to draw some cityscape again. Thankfully it still didn't rain on me, but I was left trying my best to hold on to my paper and hair against the wind.

Another kind of Winter: Christmas in Taiwan

 Ended up dropping by a friend's place in Tamsui for Christmas before heading home for New Year. In between our busy schedule of eating and shopping, I found a few hours to sneak out and paint. Since I didn't have time to go too far, I painted around the Tamsui old street / port area (Man was it crowded on Christmas day!) 

Mount Guanyin across from the Tamsui port. There was no mistake to the shimmering light; it was well over 25 degrees celsius that day. It took me days to see the Buddha's head in the mountain, despite driving/riding metro in front of it every day. There was a cross facing the sea...not sure what its origins are...

The store fronts of the old street. Please imagine crowds of people moving in the shadows below 

When I was trying to find the way back (while avoiding backtracking my steps through the crowd) I came across this interesting stairs and mural behind Fuyou Temple. (I kinda glossed over it here, but the mural on the left is of a harbour scene during sunset) The old brick houses on the left and the looming high rise on the right really creates a unique scene, probably why there were also university graduates taking group photos and tourists alike

Top of Nob Hill, Grace Cathedral

Another trip joining the SF Sketchers on a sunny, but windy winter day. The sliver of light against the dark facade of the church was striking, so I refused the warmth inside the church and stood out on the sidewalk. (I put my water jars and other supplies on the stone side walls of the lawns, thinking it was convenient, but ended up annoying scores of children as they liked to walk on the higher curb, and had to jump down and start again when they met the obstacles I laid out...

 The afternoon sun was casting nice shadows across the building across from the cathedral (Pacific-Union Club) so I decided to stay for another piece. It also happens that the Transamerica Pyramid peeks through from between the buildings on the left. More than the scenery in front of me, the labyrinth behind me was constantly on my mind because of the non-stop feed steps. It sounds like that many of them are impatient children waiting for their guardians to get out of the cathedral, and walking the labyrinth was a pretty good time-killer...

The sun looks warm from the painting, but I was so cold I probably gulped down the cup of hot tea afterwards in matter of minutes