It just kind of tickles my funny bone. That little house. That tall, skinny tree. 

New ‘Hood, New Houses

Loving the way that some SF homeowners go bold with color. Maybe just as importantly, that some don't.  Once again, it's the contrast that catches the eye.  

Guiding Question

So the guiding question here was: What happens if I take a loose watercolor approach...if I try not to be too literal...and if I don't use a black pen for definition, as opposed to the more controlled approach I took a few posts back? 

Next question might be: what if I use gouache? Stay tuned.

Dragon Dance

From the Dragon Dance at the Alameda Farmers' Market on February 16, 2019. I waited two weeks to decide whether to add the black pen--I didn't feel the dragon was recognizable without it, though I'm sure not sure the lines help. I'm opposed to using black for definition, but one day I'll be able to represent something with just brushes and paint when I want to. (Kinda happy with the bystanders, though.)

It was rainy, cloudy, and wet that day...as it has continued to be since. I so appreciated the color in these costumes, and the work and creativity that so many people shared with us to celebrate the Chinese New Years, especially on such a gray day.

Inspiration

This drawing shows the struggle I have been experiencing to slow down and take the time to see. As in writing, sometimes you just have to put the lousy draft on the page anyway. What I most wanted to capture here was my admiration for the person who inspired the creation of this lovely Yee Tock Chee Park in Sausalito, CA. 

A nearby sign reads, “In loving memory of ‘Willie’ Chee, Nov. 1, 1891 to March 2, 1853...Who for 60 years owned and operated the Marin Fruit Co. 160 ft. south of this point and who was a never ending source of friendship and help for many Sausalitans in need. To know him was to love him.”

Oh, to inspire a park that lives on in your name...and in a town of about 8,000 that receives 2 million visitors a year. That is really something.

"I have a love-hate relationship with the Bay Area," said the woman in my Qi gong class who has lived here for decades. "The traffic is crazy here. I much prefer driving in North Dakota, where my daughter lives. But then I get home and go to Berkeley Bowl and I just want to kiss the vegetables." 

Sketchers’ Paradise

Yes, we’ve landed the SF/Bay area, and yes, it’s a sketchers’ paradise, to be sure. Setting up home and office have had to be priorities, but I hope I’m finally getting into a sketching/painting rhythm, because there’s a LOT out here to draw and paint, folks!

This is from a ‘hood in San Francisco, south of Golden Gate Park. The contrast of the bright blue house, lower right, with the upper left white buildings (Condos? Outrageously expensive homes?)—that’s what caught my eye. Oh, it’s good to be drawing again!