Amazing in an Odd Way

Peaceable Kindgom?

 

While walking to meet friends for dinner at the Slanted Door (Embarcado), I saw this.  I thought it was adorable at the time; later I  wondered.  How did he do this? Were all the animals drugged?  The dog and cat looked like they were asleep and so did one of the rats.  But the rat closest to the cat was moving his nose around and nodding his head up and down.  So how did he do it?

I felt like I was watching a modern version of peaceable kingdom.

I fly back to DC on Monday.  On Tuesday evening we have a makeup class with Rob and Friday starts the children’s portrait workshop.  Its going to be a short work week but a long week.

Tomorrow I will probably hit some museums.  Today was beautiful and downtown was mobbed.  I did walk along a fishing wharf near Ft Mason.  There were some pretty bridge views and it was fun watching a sea lion stealing chicken from the crab pots.

San Fransisco Cliches

Trolly View

 

There are times and some places that make it is simply wonderful to be a tourist, San Antonio is one town, DC another and now I can add San Fransisco to the list as well. 

Yesterday I hit Fisherman’s Wharf, the Union Square District,  some great art galleries and was soaked to the skin in the process (the weatherman promised no rain and like and idiot I believed him).

Cable Car Ride.  I am staying at a place in the Castro District which is 3 or 4 stops from Union Square.  If you will be in SF for any length of time recommend you buy a transportation pass, I think they are sold for 1, 3, or 7 days.  These passes provide access to all the trolleys, cable cars and subway in San Fransisco; however you must pay for your travel on BART separately.  Basically this means you have the freedom to hop on/off the cable cars where ever or whenever you please.  Since the subway is $1.50 and the cable cars cost $5 a ride the savings adds up quickly.  Although I am in town for 5 days I bought the 7 day pass for only $24; I purchased the ticket where you hop on the trolley about two blocks south of Union Station.  

The cable car ride was fun, No matter how cool it looks do not site right up against the window on either outside facing street; the bell is there.  Anytime someone or something is blocking the cable car they ring that bell and continue to ring that bell until the person or thing is moved.  The bell is right by the front window -I sat there on the way back to Union Station and trust me it was quite loud.  If you can sit on the right side of the car you get some great views of the bay and one of the bridges.

Seals at Pier 39

 Fisherman’s Wharf.  Fisherman’s Wharf is the heart of the San Fransisco tourist area, tours to Alcatraz, bay boat rides and kitsch are king.  Since visiting a former prison, surround by shark infested icey waters while in a nice drizzly rain isn’t on my top 10 list of things to do in SF, I opted to simply walk around.  There are some interesting things to do down there that were fun as well. 

Pier 39 is a disco lounge of sorts to seal lions.  At some point they took over and now rule the roost.  As you approach you can hear them barking and playing from more than two blocks away. 

The sea lions come in a large variety of sizes, older males and juveniles, and are sprawled all over the docks. The picture to the right is of one very sad looking sea lion that was all alone and sleeping quietly.  Most of the sea lions looked like they were carpeting the docks they were on and they weight made the docks look like they were drunkenly listing to one side or the other. 

Apparently most of the loungers are male sea lions, no idea where the females hung out. There were a lot of snoozing sea lions as well as a bunch of them that were playing with each other in the water.

If you are interested, there is a sea lion center on the second floor of the warehouse buildings.  There is a full sea lion skeleton in the window (it was wearing a festive santa hat which was rather macabre).  But if the folks you’re with like sea lion anatomy or want to learn more about them, it’s the place to go.

After being thoroughly drenched I decided to grab lunch.  The choice was difficult since there was chowder in a sourdough bread bowl at Boudin’s or I could stop at a stall along pier 42 and eat what looked like a pound or so of crab claws for cheap.  Although the crab claws looked delish I was soaked and wanted warm soup inside to dry out a bit.  The chowder at Boudins was filling and excellent; it had a wonderful buttery taste and the sourdough was really fresh and light. I’d recommend you sample this if it’s cold and you are at the wharf.

After lunch I head back to Union Square.  I was looking for the John Pence Gallery as well as Larry Warnock’s.  The John Pence Gallery is located at 750 Post street about a 6 block walk from were the cable car drops you off and it’s in the heart of indonesian and some vietnamese restaurants. 

The John Pence Gallery space was enormous. There were three galleries in the main space with various shows as well as a seperate connected space next door that contained a drawing gallery, sculptures and a significant number of paintings. I am a huge fan of Greg Gandy and it was wonderful seeing so much of his work hanging. 

I spent most of my time in the drawing gallery, they had two larger works by Robert Liberace, several by Juliette Aristides, some jewel portraits (oil on paper) by Travis Schlat, a pencil drawing by Jacob Collins and a host of other drawings.   I almost purchased a small Greg  Gandy painting but  I couldn’t decide between that one or a small Schlat; so I decided to wait and sadly left empty handed.

I headed down towards Union Station and Larry Warnocks (he’s at 49 Geary Street) and stumbled upon a Harvey Dinnerstien Show held the Frey Norris Gallery on Post Street.  The show was very interesting and on the two jewels to me were a tiny self portrait painted by Dinnerstein in 1952 and another one painted of a soldier at Ft Devins MA.  Both were powerful and amazing. 

Larry Warnock shares a retail space with Mr. Tate who specializes in photographs.  He had these amazing small photographs made by Ruth Bernhard that had only 1 existing copy.  Mr. Tate said Bernard had an assistant who was paid in work and the photographs belonged to the assistant.  They were wonderful but tiny (I think about 1.5″x1.5″) and probably very desirable to a photography collector. 

I then headed back to hotel to dry out.  I met friends for dinner at chinese place called the Oriental Pearl  which came highly recommended.  Its recommended in a in a SF restaurant guide and one of their claims to fame is that Rachel Ray ate and filmed a section of $40 a day there.  The food was disappointing and the service was fractured between a number of servers. I would not recommend this place and if forced to eat there – avoid the noodles and tofu at all costs.  The fried tofu balls were bizarre, they tasted like they contained scrambled eggs inside.  And while some people like silken tofu I prefer the pock marked ma’s variety-firm and caramelized.  The noodles tasted like they were tired; kind of like how pad thai noodles on a lunch buffet taste at 2pm.  Again, do not order these.  Stay away from the chicken meatballs as well-trust me on this.  The steamed dim sum was nice except for the shrimp dumplings, which had a strange translucent dough skin.  Over all not a memorable or repeatable meal.  Sorry but I am a foodie and if a place is that highly touted I expect the food to be good.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am in San Francisco California visiting friends and meeting some new ones.  The place I am staying at has an electric trolley that goes by frequently and looks like the ones that used to run where I grew up.

 

Today I plan to stuff myself full of cliches, from riding on a cable car, taking a pic of the golden gate bridge to hitting fisherman’s wharf and hopefully sampling some great food. 

I went to Design*Sponge as well as sfgirlbybay to look at recommendations on what to see (shopping wise) while here.

On my list is the following:  Giant Robot, Genji Antiques, Zinc Detail, and Nest.

I also hope to hit the John Pence Gallery and Larry Warnocks (wonderful prints). I am on eastern time so it’s obscenely early here and I am dying for coffee.  There is a peets coffee a few blocks down so I will hit there in a few.

Friday Night Painting

Anna

Last night was the final session of class this term.  Rob set one evening as a make up class for us next week.  Next term is drawing which I am looking forward to, but I love where I am with the painting so I may continue to paint (Rob allows us to work in what ever media we’re comfortable with).

I didn’t quite finish this painting of Anna.  The mouth is clunky as well as the area of the bottom of her nose. 

I still need to work on a better transition between the reflected light on her lower jaw and her cheek, her ear and do something about her shoulders.  Most of my concentration was eyes and redrawing (about 15 times) her mouth-which still needs work. 

I love how her hair came out, I threw in the copper highlights at the top as well as the icy blue-white highlights from the lights.

Like I said this still needs work but I am happy that I didn’t completely ruin it with the transition to color -which is normally where I usually manage to ruin the paintings.  I spent about the last 20 minutes of the class working on her eye socket.  I redrew it several times because Anna has these very smokey heavy lidded eyes.  Her eyes are a wonderful pale blue which I hinted at but didn’t try to draw.

The use of color and some of my bold choices were new for me.  Rob is a tonalist and I prefer his subtle modeling but I wanted to try to ratchet up the temp slightly so I could moderate it later in the session.

National Journal Expert Blogs Launch

On Wednesday evening  I attended an event at the Watergate.  The National Journal launched their  Expert Blogs which will focus on Health Care, the Economy and Energy and Enviromental issues. 

The Expert Blogs are hoping to replicated some of the bipartisan discussions that take place as part of the social side of capital hill life that don’t make it into the media or the hearing process.  The conversations which happen behind the scenes between politicians on both sides of the aisles when individuals are not worried about providing soundbites for journalists.  The concept should prove interesting.

The evening was extremely educational there were some lively discussions about Senator Clinton and the Obama’s vetting for her possible appointment as the Secretary of State as well as speculation about battle between Congressman Dingell and Waxman over who will head the committee on Energy and Commerce (Waxman won).

There was also speculation on who would head the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and several other key economic cabinet posts.  One of the predictions came true and was recently announced, Mr. Geithner was picked to head the Treasury Department.  The financial markets apparently approved  resulting in a nice rally this afternoon. 

I meet Carl Pope and Josuha (President and Political Director respectively) from the Sierra Club as well as Ron Brownstien ( Political Director of Atlantic Media Publishing and columnist with the National Journal) and the Political Director from the Progressive Future.  Of course I immediatly put my foot in my mouth with Carl by asking him why he sends me so much email! 

Carl laughed so I guess it wasn’t too bad of a faux pas.  I am certain he’s heard it before  since the number of emails I receive from Carl and Greg Hegaele (Sierra Club) are almost as bad as Moveon.org for filling up your email inbox.  The food was delish and the conversation was pretty remarkable-all in all it was a great evening.

The Dress, Signs of the Times and a Painting (rough draft)

The Dress.  I guess I am an optimist, or perhaps it’s that I am a pessimist?  Several months ago I purchased a gorgeous gown for the inauguration (I have a dear friend who is taking me).  So I decided to buy the dress when the election was still up in the air.  I figured there was no way I’d find such a beautiful dress in December or January.  The dress makes me feel I am skinny as a stick so I think I am on the right track. 

Luckily Obama won and if all goes right I will be a Cinderella at one of the inaugural balls, we’ve been invited to two so far, but I really want to hit one hosted by Montana.  I went to college there and most of my friends who worked with the campaign are from there as well.

In a fit of bipartisan goodwill, my friend Pat offered to alter the dress for me.  Keep in mind this sucker had french seams and consisted of yards and yards of royal blue silk satin skirt and liner.  I am terrified to even attempt such alterations with my 20 year old sewing machine.  Pat worked on it with her machine and by hand.  I will get it tomorrow night!

Wasn’t sure what to give her as a thank you gift for what she’s done.  I think I hit on it but not 100% sure.  I guess I will find out when it arrives at her house tomorrow.

Speaking of the inauguration, I attended a party a few weeks ago and one of the guests told me she was renting out her house for 3 nights for $15k! She lives on Capitol Hill in DC the hub for all of the events but holy smokes $15K??

Sign of the Times.  Well most of the Obama/McCain signs are down.  Tonight I took a walk in Old Town Alexandria (I was visiting my painting in a show) when I was amused to see that the sign wars on Prince Street and South Columbus Street were over.  I should have driven down there to see if the McCain signs were up on November 5th.

One thing about the political signs that really bothered me, the one that I had in front of my house was constantly vandalised.  They finally ripped it out of the dirt and threw it in the street.  What is wrong with people?  Makes me glad that I never place political stickers on my car.

Rough Draft

 

A Painting.  This image is is lighter than the actual image.  The model was sitting in front of a deep violet satin backdrop, her skin is very pale and her hair is very dark brown with these amazing magenta highlights.

The main thing I concentrated in this first attempt is to capture her likeness, accurately place the darks and work carefully to transition to color.  The third item, the transition to color is where I usually have problems.

I started with an underpainting of burnt umber on a toned panel.  Once I was happy with it, I mixed permanent rose, cad yellow light and titanium white.  Her temple area was a blue grey  and the lowest part of her hair is really so dark that it’s a coal black.  The lips look a mess but the shadows are accurate and you can get (I hope) a sense of the structure of her mouth.  I placed a light glaze of violet behind her to gauge how pale the skin color will look. 

Hopefully things will go well tomorrow night when we have our final sitting with her. I need to rework the darks of her hair and face, clarify her lips and chin and then hit the neck.  Other than darkening the background it should be done.  Since the purpose is to work on not being afraid of adding color I am not as worried about likeness (although its a good one right now) and more concerned with temperature and color values.

Show Results

Forgot to mention this earlier.  My larger (4″x4″) small painting was accepted into the show! There were 538 paintings and artwork submitted and 198 were accepted.  

This is only the fourth show I’ve entered and the third show that I’ve been accepted for.  The first was in the 1980s for a pen and ink drawing which won 2nd place.  I don’t have a picture of the drawing but somewhere there is a plaque in a box in storage attesting to this.  The second show was a student show and then this one. So overall am very happy.

Technical Difficulties

New Laptop Woes.  I purchased a new laptop from Dell which arrived on November 5th.  I was very excited but have had problems with its graphic display since the Monday the 7th.  I will be sending it back to the company tomorrow evening. 

I really hated how unresponsive they were.  All I wanted to do was return it and reorder a new one since I believe there is a serious problem with the graphics card.  Dell refused to accept it back without charging me a 15% restocking fee UNLESS I went through a 2 hour trouble shooting session with their techs. 

First of all if a product doesn’t work it doesn’t work.  I discovered that there is a known problem with the NVIDA card used in the one I purchased (xps 1500 series) and even though it was sold as a higher end model it coudn’t handle the combined requirements of playing Warhammer on line AND Vista at the same time.  I also found out that the speed was 2.4 ghz vice the advertised 2.5ghz.  The tech said this is a huge problem with the games/applications they are running.  All were show stoppers. 

Once the tech confirmed the two problems the Dell people stopped stalling and made very very nice.  All in all extremely aggravating!

After blowing through 2 hours (on my cell phone since I don’t use a land line) they agreed to take it back.  Now I’ve had 4 dells, 3  (1 desktop and 2 laptops- all XPS models) and one normal lower end desktop.  Yes I am a geek.  This is the first time I’ve had a serious problem with a Dell.  Last problem was with the XPS desktop and a noisy but working fan. 

I want a new laptop but after this experience I really hesitate to order another Dell.  The service tech in the Philippines told me that I should order the xps 1700 series for better gaming performance.  He also recommended I call Dell and request xp instead of vista.  Apparently you can do so but it’s expensive.  Since I hate vista so far I will bite the bullet and pay extra for the windows xp.

Of course the Macbook pro is looking sexier and sexier…

Blog.  When I visited my sister in Colorado several weeks ago we discussed setting up a website and exporting this blog to it.  I started the process but it’s going to take a bit. Hence the delay in posting.