When I was driving home from San Anselmo (Marin County) Friday I pulled into the entrance to San Quentin Prison to watch the sunset on the San Francisco Bay. I took some photos to use for this week’s Everyday Matter’s Challenge: draw a body of water.
This afternoon it was really nice to get back to watercolor after spending yesterday struggling with the Painter software. I did this on an Arches 12 x 9″ watercolor block without doing much drawing first. I’m not sure if I should have simplified more–maybe deleted the foreground fennel plants or the electrical tower (I think that’s what it is) in the background. I also discovered when I finished that the reflection in the water doesn’t line up with the sun in the sky. (Ooops!)
Here’s the reference photo and a picture of the sign in front of the prison. It’s so weird that there’s a funky old prison on some of the most beautiful and expensive land in the country, if not the world. (click photos to enlarge on Flickr).
Jana Bouc, Artist 
12 replies on “View from San Quentin Prison (EDM #83: Water)”
Beautiful! I love the sunset glow in the water and the radiant whiteness at the center of the sunny part.
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WONDERFUL!! WONDERFUL!! WONDERFUL!! Water to sunset, land and sky — all of this — just BEAUTIFUL, Jana!! BRAVA!
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This is STUNNING!!! I don’t know, the tower kind of adds a something, I love the way your captured the reflection on the water and the fennel frames it all nicely. Beautiful!!
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Gorgeous! The colors just sing! Wow, this is so beautiful!
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Dazzling.
Light seems to extend on water.
And, I learn to the purple color usage.
kuriyama
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Really lovely, Jana, particularly the setting sun and reflection–even if they don’t meet. (which just gives me something to think about!)
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Lovey bright sunset colours, I could hardly see the tower and that adds to the mystery of what is over there.
Really like the foreground plant, brings the whole thing into perspective.
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I can’t remember where I heard it (probably on KQED-FM), but I reacall this one guy was telling a story about his young daughter and how she called San Quentin “the Castle of the Bad Men.” I thought that was cute.
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Now *that’s* watercolour! Wish I could paint alongside you and pick your brains the next time I attempt a w/c sketch!
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Gosh Jana, it’s beautiful! It looks so real and yet it’s so much better than the picture you started with!
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It’s like the reflection in the mirror of the Bar at the Folies Bergeres, that doesn’t match up, but it does add an extra twist, isn’t it better when things don’t match up? Lovely picture. I’m scared of water.
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Fantastic. Really beautiful. Something about it reminds me of William Turner (one of my favorites).
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