Showers at Fremont Older

We had a hike and sketch planned for today - the weather turned out showery so it was just Jenny and I, two hardy souls! It was worth going out though. The colors were beautiful, both in the sky and landscape. We've had so much rain that there are still flowering bushes and loads of wild flowers blanketing the hillsides. We stopped a couple of times to do very quick sketches. I wanted to paint, but our pen sketches got splashed on, so paints were out of the question. Then we went up to Hunters Point. We stayed up there for an hour and ate our lunch - probably not a wise idea as we got very cold. The panoramic views there are wonderful though. I did a couple of paintings. I worked wet in wet and splashed on the color very quickly before it could get rained on. I was very pleased with the way I managed to capture the hills disappearing into the mist in the first one. (top)The second one came out more abstract. The light was just hitting a road down in the valley and it provided an nice white line in the landscape. When I got home I thought the sky could do with some more work, so I softened some of the blooms and the hard edges. In the event I think I ruined it. So, abject lesson there, keep it fresh and leave well alone!

Alviso moon, Capitola bulldog

A week in which I get mooned and have my portrait drawn...
Alviso
Today's paintings are from Alviso on the bay. It was peaceful in the immediate vicinity, but off in the distance a big hole boring machine was thumping its way into the earth and workers were clustered around a truck with a crane. The marshes here are very colorful. There were lots of flowers still about because of the continuing rains and the tule reeds are tipped with orange. Flowers are great, but beware of "blooms" in your paintings - I was fairly happy with my colorful painting until I looked closer at the sky. Is that the Alviso "moon"?! Yikes! I'll have to go back and do something with it. Closer to the bay the water was beautiful - the waves had a golden look to them. I was attracted by the storage silos and various small industrial buildings near the water. The hills still have a green blush to them where they haven't quite dried out yet. Another month will see an end to that.Capitola
On the weekend I went down to Capitola to meet up with another artist and do some sketching. The day was glorious and Capitola was bustling. I'm not a people person really, so my sketches make it look like we were pretty much alone out there! I did a quick sketch from the end of the esplanade looking at the cliffs. Then I turned around and started a painting of the beach view with the cliffs and the pier. I continued drawing with my brushpen on the watercolor paper and actually like the feel of that. The drawing was in light blue, so not too scary looking. While I was painting I turned out to be the perfect subject for another artist sitting on the grass to sketch!Unfortunately I was talking the whole time I was painting, so it didn't turn out too well in the end. There was also a lady with a bulldog right in front of me and I so wanted to draw the dog. I got my sketchbook out and put it on my lap, under the watercolor. Then when the dog stayed in one position for a bit I scribbled a sketch, then when he moved I went back to my watercolor. Talk about multitasking! Daft idea all round. The bulldog was definitely the best bit though!

Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud - Hike and Sketch at Sunol

Flag Hill, Sunol

Ever hiked in a pair of mud overshoes?! It was a little sticky underfoot today up at Sunol after all the rain we got yesterday. We started our short hike on the Hayfield Road trail. This was NOT a road by any stretch of the imagination today. We slipped, slid and squelched up the hill through the ooze. Every few yards stopping to scrape the mud off our feet, and a couple of inches off our height! I have to say though that the vistas were well worth it. After a short slog up Hayfield we were stopped dead by the staggering view of Flag hill. Its green undulations crowned by rocks and pierced by stony ribs just begged to be painted.Further up still we came across a small herd of cattle. They lay about on the crest of a hill like so many cud chewing rocks. Blue hills in the distance created a perfect backcloth of pastoral serenity. The cows eyed us with disdain as we all set up our painting gear opposite them. Throughout our day the skies were alternately blue and cloudy, making for interesting color combos in our paintings.Our original plan was to go to the top of Hayfield than via Cave to Eagle View Road, but time spent grappling with the mud put us behind and instead we cut across on a narrow trail to Indian Joe Creek trail. This narrow trail proved even worse for mud than Hayfield, having been well churned up by the cows. Little pockets of slick mud and cow manure had to be dodged without falling down the sheer drop! Our arrival at the babbling brook of Joe Creek was greeted with relief and celebrated with lunch and more sketching. We saw the promise of a drier trail to return on.The dry trail was drier in some ways, but we did have to cross, and recross, the stream numerous times. Our last stop was to try and and capture the running water of the stream with fallen trees in it. I ran out of time on my painting and will have to finish from memory. All in all a wonderful day out in a beautiful landscape.

Yosemite

Mirror Lake at Yosemite

We just had a wonderful few days in Yosemite and were lucky enough to arrive after a terrible snowstorm so that we could enjoy the snow without really having to deal with it too much. On our arrival there was still a lot of cloud and gloom about which made for some atmospheric views of the valley.Lunchtime Sketch from the Meadow
Day One: There was a lot of ice and snow on the smaller trails so it was hard going in places, especially as my new walking shoes had no grip on the ice. The weather couldn't have been nicer though - glorious sunshine and increasing temperatures, which meant that the snow melted very quickly throughout our visit. We had lunch overlooking the meadow, Washington Column and the Arches. There was water cascading down the rocks all over, and the waterfalls were flowing well. I did this quick sketch as we sat in the sun eating our sandwiches. We hiked over 10 miles the first day.Sketch for watercolor

On Day Two: We had an abortive trip to see the Mariposa Grove - which you can only get into if you arrive early in the morning as they have very little parking (Duh! why even make it a highlight of the park if no-one can go there! That's twice we've tried to see it and been turned away.) In the afternoon we went to Mirror Lake and had lunch. I set up with my paints, did a brushpen sketch first, then went on to the watercolor at the top of this article. I was sat right on the shore and every now and then a warm breeze would blow by from somewhere. I got totally absorbed in the scene in front of me and had no idea of how much time passed. Keith and Steve had decided to hike the Mirror Lake trail as far as the huge rockfall which has now blocked it. They came back with aching limbs, so I'm glad I decided to paint!
I did another quick sketch at Mirror Lake then we went and ate at the Ahwahnee Hotel. This involved another hike, but we were glad we didn't try to drive as the hotel road was being dug up and there was a huge line of cars waiting to go in and out. By the end of the day our old muscles and joints were protesting the miles of walking we'd done.Keith panning for gold

On Day Three: we drove up to Columbia for a little gold prospecting. I've found the perfect way to keep two old guys happy for hours!

Santa Clara Mission

We were lucky with the weather today - sunny, but cold. I needed sunscreen and a hat and gloves! The clouds were looking threatening, which meant we could have some fun with the skies. Not so much cobalt blue or cerulean, more of the grays and purples, yay! And, for once, we weren't driven crazy by the lawn mowers and leaf blowers.
The Wisteria was blooming nicely over the walkway next to the church and it seemed like every other bush and plant had flowers too. I set up behind the church building, with just a hint of the church tower peeking amongst the foliage. However, I "removed" some of the palm trees trunks which should be on the right so I could put in more sky.
At one point I was stalked by one of the local cats, who was apparently attracted by the movements I was making behind the bushes. When this black and white carnivore got close enough he realized I was too big to hunt and decided instead to see if I had anything good to eat in my paintbox!
Just for fun, here's my painting from this site back in 2008, a much warmer day I think.

Sacramento

Old Sacramento, outside the Railway Museum

Spent a fun weekend up in Sacramento, staying at the Citizen Hotel. We were a short walk from the State Capitol Building and Capitol Park which is a beautiful area during the day (I was told by another visitor that the park is full of homeless people at night).
Here is a scribbly view from our hotel window
and a couple of sketches of the Tower Bridge, a vertical lift bridge spanning the Sacramento River. Old Sacramento School House (Tower Bridge in background)
I was hoping to see the bridge raise up for a ship to go under, but the only excitement was a protest march about education cuts. The marchers made quite an impressive noise as I was sketching the School House in Old Sacramento, and then I caught them going back over the bridge after I'd had lunch. I'd forgotten my usual sepia pens for drawing, so had to make do with a biro from my purse,

Calero Hike and Sketch

View from above Los Cerritos Pond

Another glorious day, perfect for hiking and sketching on the Calero Regional Park hills. There were some wildflowers out and it was warm enough to dispense with jackets once we got going. We started with a quick sketch in the car park. We had a wonderful clear view of Mount Hamilton in the distance with its cluster of telescopes on the summit.Mt Hamilton (from the car park)
We hiked up a steepish trail to Los Cerritos Pond. From here we had views across the rolling green hills to the distant purple mountains. We were serenaded by redwinged blackbirds who flew among the reeds in the pond. Above us hawks and vultures soared. It was a very peaceful and serene spot.
I struggled with trying to capture the panorama in watercolor and after a couple of attempts went back to my brush pens and sketchbook for subsequent sketches.Wildflowers on the trail
We did another couple of stops and had lunch. We all enjoyed the peace and quiet of the park on a beautiful spring day.