Fort Baker

Joined up yesterday with two painters on San Francisco Bay.  Finished some sketches of moored sailboats with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge.  When I was all set up to paint, the wind really started blowing.  I turned around and moved next to a building for shelter and quickly painted one of the old structures at Fort Baker.  This watercolor, (12X15) took about 30-45 min. to complete without a sketch.  It was fun to see what can happen without sketching and just letting go with the paint.

At one time, the military owned some of the best real estate in San Francisco and along the bay.  Fort Baker is in Sausalito and has been turned into a tourist destination with lodging in the old officer quarters and a fine restaurant.  There are some dynamite views of the city and bay and it is a wonderful place to do plein air painting.

Vanishing Crew

While sketching along San Francisco Bay I was fascinated by a crew working on a pile driver.  The engine was cranking away, making a racket.  I did several sketches and, then decided to get out the paints.  My paints were back in my parked car.  When I returned, the entire rig with crane was headed out to sea with a motor boat pushing from behind.  I wound bet that it hadn't moved for over a year and, just when I wanted to paint, it was gone. 

I ran across my sketches the other day and tried another time to paint it. The tall crane and reflection lends itself nicely to a vertical format.

San Francisco Bay

Here is a switch from my Italian travels.  This landscape is seen while in bed, looking over my toes at San Francisco Bay.  It is a one point perspective so that the closer objects are seen from above and the distant ones tend to be more righted.  Kind of fun to paint this and it was a very quick painting, since I left the water in the Bay unpainted.

Fog Over San Francisco

I'm fascinated with the fog and how to capture it with my watercolor painting. The fog gathers on the California Pacific coast and builds up so that it pours over the hills of Marin, over and under the Golden Gate Bridge and finally into the city. There are areas on the Bay known as 'banana belts' where the fog only reaches as a last resort. The sun continues to shine and the sail boats are out. Tiburon California is a 'banana belt' and sailing continues as the fog moves across the Bay.
I tried to put such a scene together in this painting with the boats and houses in the foreground in sunlight and the fog just starting to roll over the headlands of Marin.

Plein Air Painting on San Francisco Bay

After being away in New York City for 2 weeks it was wonderful to get out painting on the bay. The day was perfect with a warm sun and no wind. 'Sunshine almost always makes me high' was John Denver's mantra and I believe it.
I visited a lot of art galleries while away and saw the American Watercolor Society show. The latter is always a treat because it is my media. I object to the selection of recurrent theme paintings. These were great ideas the first time done and selected, but to keep selecting new versions of the same subject by the same artist in the show eliminates new works by others. I have a fascination with abstract modern art. I think that it is art to new level and takes me awhile to take it in. There was plenty to see in New York City.