Golden Gate Bridge II

2015-02-11T20:26:00-08:00

The other day, while I was painting the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance, I kept thinking about how I wanted to get closer to it and then do another painting.

Well, I got much closer. I walked from our Airbnb apartment all the way to the entrance to the Golden Gate Bridge. I discovered that it was more than just a place where the railing began. It's a nice spot for welcoming tourists with interactive bridge exhibits, a gift shop, relatively clean restrooms, and Bridge Cafe (more of a convenience store than a cafe, but full of tasty goodies).

I found a relatively comfortable spot on a concrete bench next to Bridge Cafe and painted this watercolor. When I first sat down, I thought I was going to paint for half an hour, then power walk across the bridge and back. That didn't happen. I ended up painting until dusk.

This is a very happy painting. I enjoyed working on this very much. It felt like the painting painted itself. The bridge was so majestic from up close. There was a hill at the tourist center that was covered in beautiful native plant landscaping. You can tell from this that I loved everything that I was painting.

The area was also full of excited tourists. Seeing an architectural work of beauty like the Golden Gate Bridge often inspires people to notice all the beauty in their surroundings. I often saw people take photos of the bridge and then start taking photos of the plants on the hill. Normally those plants would go unnoticed, but the bridge awakens something in visitors' minds.

Likewise, tourists noticed me painting and stopped to watch. I've had this happen a number of times, but not like this time. The bridge really does something to awaken the senses. Visitors were very curious and asked me a lot of questions.

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1 comments captured from original post on Blogger

Nanette said on 2016-02-18

Beautiful watercolor.