Land's End, San Francisco with NBPAP - July 31st, 2011

Sunday was cold and windy on the coast (with just a bit of the drizzly rainy fog to keep my pastels in their box!). The SF Marathon was earlier that morning so traffic was still kind of messing things up downtown.
The views from Land's End were somewhat curtailed and the Golden Gate Bridge played hide and seek all day, frustrating many of the artists. However this area always has tourists and other visitors drawn to its trails even in weather like this.

I rather like the graphics on this very truthful sign (an unlucky few had already lost their lives this year from falls from the cliffs).

Most of the painters had arrived by noontime and while I was waiting for the clouds to lift (just a little, please) my hubby and I went over to the Seal Rock Inn for lunch (and to get warm). Poor guy, everytime he tries to join me in a painting outing it is either stifingly hot, bitterly cold, or tied up in endless traffic. The Cliff House food was a tad too expensive and Louis' Restaurant was not yet open for business after its recent remodel.

We had walked part of the trail at Land's End earlier to try and scope out some good views but I settled on this view in the parking lot overlooking the ruins of the old Sutro Baths and Seal Rocks. I had brought my Canson Watercolor SF Sketchbook to work in since the weather wasn't cooperating.

There was a fairly large turnout this day of painters (despite the weather). We are a hardy bunch!

For more pictures and a look at the other paintings created that day - visit the North Bay Plein Air Painters Blog.

Sketching Davis with Pete Scully's Group

This weekend was a "Let's Draw Davis" Event that Pete Scully holds about once a month up in (where else?) Davis, CA.

We all met at the Amtrak Station there in downtown Davis. It was a warm 86 degrees but quite manageable if you were sitting in the shade of the many trees found downtown.

I had lots of fun meeting Pete and the other local artists. A few sketches were committed...:)

Check out the mention of this event on the Urban Sketcher's Blog.

Check out Marlene Lee's blog about this sketchcrawl!

Check out Salvador's blog on this sketchcrawl.


We stopped and sketched some toys in the window of a local shop.

Here's Pete with some of the Group:

I had the day off the Friday before and sat in my car and sketched a few scenes in the early part of the day. (Colors were added later).

It took me a few trains stopping to catch the side of the train but I was always rewarded with a view of one of the conductors. This is more of a composite sketch of the ones I saw that day.

I see that they renamed the local "Murder Burger" - Shows you how long it's been since I was in Davis!

Lucky me I was there early enough in the day to avoid many pedestrians but I spied this old jalopy when I drove down the street. I had to stop and catch that!

I had to leave a bit early the day of the sketch crawl on Saturday but this was the place the rest of the Group would meet at the end. I sat in the car in front of Chipotle's to get this view (a composite of the Plaza). It was getting kind of hot by then...

Check out Pete Scully's Blog to see a sketch of ME! (Hey Thanks Pete!)

I definitely enjoyed myself in Davis and will look forward to sketching there in the future!

Calistoga with NBPAP - March 27, 2011

CASTELLO DI AMOROSO - Calistoga, CA

Check out the paintout on the NBPAP Blog and for more of my photos of this venue see our MeetUp Page! (More below)

This winery just outside of St. Helena is amazing with dungeons, sheep, chickens & peacocks on the property. There is an entrance fee and a separate tour and wine tasting fee. The day of the paintout with the North Bay Plein Air Painters, it was rainy and drizzling. Artists from all over Northern CA and as far as Chicago came to paint with us. Although most braved the elements that day, some of us paper artists fled to the dry interior of our cars to sketch the scene.

GOLDEN GATE PARK, SF - December 12, 2010

End of the Year Paintout with the NBPAP - Music Concourse, Golden Gate Park

Music Concourse

De Young Art Museum

(Watercolor pencil sketch -Artist Janice L-H)

(View Toward the Japanese Gaardens - watercolor pencil sketch - Artist Janice L-H)

A great venue for the End of the Year Paint-out. The hot dogs at the cart were good too (The Chowder guy left by the time I got over there). Lots of statues, fountains and trees of all kinds. I would have liked to go over to the Conservatory of Flowers if I had gotten there earlier. See the write-up on the NBPAP Blog: http://nbpleinair.blogspot.com/2010/12/21st-nbpa-results-san-francisco-ca.html

Art Crawling in Napa - August 15. 2009

Art crawling in Napa at the V Pavillion was really fun!
Food, Art, Artists, Wine, Pastries, Barbeque - what's NOT to love?
I saw, I met, I bought! See the full write up at the link on the bottom of the page.

Bistro Jeanty - Yountville, CA (watercolor pencils)


Napa Valley Art Festival
from nbplein painters blog

Inverness With North Bay Plein Air - July 26, 2009

Tomales Bay, Inverness, CA

Plein Air Painters at Tomales Bay (watercolor pencils)

Here are Sergio, Iris and Gerald painting the "Point Reyes"boat that went aground some time ago and is a well-known landmark in the area. Several other painters joined the group that day. See the posting link at the end.


View Toward Elephant Mountain, Tomales Bay (pastels)


The "Point Reyes" on Tomales Bay (pastels)


Kayaking by the Golden Hind Marina, Inverness (watercolor pencils)


Check out the blog for this trip on the North Bay Plein Air site:
nbpleinair_Inverness link

Sundays in June & July with the Benicia Painters

A couple of times I met the Benicia Plein Air Painters "Da Group")
at this great beach park and boat launch area among the neighborhoods.
This was a neat jump off fishing spot at the end of the park (see below) .
I didn't have too much time that Sunday but managed this little sketch.

Fishing Spot 9th St. Beach (watercolor pencils)



9th Street Beach Park, Benicia - July 25, 2009 (watercolor pencils)


It was about 6PM at the Park in Benicia and the
wind was really blowing that day! This sketch was done
the day before (Saturday) because I was also painting at Inverness
on Sunday and JUST had time for a quick sketch
on the way home.

June was nice in the Fairfield area (not yet really hot) and the Sunday Benicia Painters gathered on the frontage roadside to paint the afternoon sun on the Cordelia Hills just below Marshview Drive.
The shadows that the oak trees make on the warm grassy hilsides are very interesting. The sun just illuminates the foreground grasses from behind in this view (below).

"Marshview Afternoon" (9"x12" pastel) -06/14/2009

South of Marshview Rd., Cordelia
This image (above) was shown in the recent Fairfield Art
Association's Suisun Marsh Show (July & August 2009)
at the Fairfield Performing Arts Theatre Gallery and also at Antioch's
Lynn House Gallery (Annual Local Artists Show, November-December 2009).

Cordelia Hills - June 14. 2009 (9" x12" watercolor & pastel)