I was painting after work today, and usually, it’s super windy and cold over by the bridge as the fog rolls in. But not tonight; instead, it was lovely, calm, and warm. The quality of light was exceptional. As far as Presidio painting sessions go, these conditions were as good as it gets. I worked on this one for about an hour until I lost my light, then finished it up at home.
I had to take my son to a cross country race in Golden Gate Park this morning, the Lowell Invitational. He needed to be there two hours early to help set up, which gave me just enough time to paint. My compliments to cross country event planners for consistently choosing beautiful locations and start times that almost always guarantee stunning lighting. Today was no exception; there was a lingering hint of lavender fog in the atmosphere as I finished up.
I began and finished this painting with no one in the lower frame, but the race course ran parallel through the grass. By the time I was done, a large crowd of nervous-looking teenagers in their school colors were warming up just behind me. I was tempted to paint in some runners, but before I knew it, it was time to cheer for Redwood High School!
Today, the crowd was much chattier than my usual onlookers, prompting me to give many “you can paint too, just don’t be afraid to fail…” pep talks. I had a wonderful time, and the event was fantastic. I’m sure many personal bests were achieved today.
My son had cross country practice this morning in Tennessee Valley. While he ran with his friends I painted and chatted with campers coming down off the hill. It was a classic foggy Marin Headlands landscape. All the runners passing down the trail added a splash of color to the otherwise monochromatic hills.
This is the view just south of the parking lot, looking north from the Haypress Camp Trail fork.
A lazy Sunday with nice clouds. Painting the wide part of Corte Madera Creek looking east toward Greenbae and Corte Madera.
If you are heading to the Phoenix Lake trailhead from Ross, you need to take Lagunitas Rd to get there. I’ve run or ridden my bike down this road hundreds of times, and there’s one thing that always catches my eye. Right before the hills crest, there is a house with these amazing hydrangeas.
There is this lovely grove of trees standing sentinel above Battery Blaney in the Presidio. I had to paint it.
It was windy as usual but this time I tried a new trick to keep the painting from flying off. I brought some cord and lashed everything to the weighted tripod. This seamed to do the trick.
It was a busy day in the office so I didn’t have much time to paint at lunch. I set up by the Muybridge statue outside of Lucasfilm and quickly painted the trees there by the pond. It was a nice afternoon after a very grey morning.
I was at the ranch this weekend and after a morning bike ride with my brother, I set up to paint the vegetable garden behind the pool house. Mom and Roe say these are “volunteers.” No one planted them, so we will just have to wait and see what they are. Probably squash, but I’m hoping for pumpkins.
At some point, Bob Johnson stopped by and we had a nice conversation about the importance of chaos in art and John Singer Sargent. After that, I suffered in the heat until a little past noon, and the veggies started to wilt. With most of the painting done, I retreated to the AC to wrap up the details in more hospitable conditions.
It was far too cold and windy outside today so I retreated to the car and painted the houses on Funston Ave. looking west towards the hotel.
Looking south-east towards Corte Madera from the College of Marin gravel parking lot. There is a tall thicket of dead grass there that caught my eye as the sun went down.
