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~