Sadie Valeri Atelier | Oil Painting, Art Classes, Instructional Videos

Study of St Ignatius as seen from Buena Vista Park I
oil on panel
9 x 12 inches

I love this church, it's called St Ignatius and it sits on the northern slope above Golden Gate Park's panhandle. In the afternoon and evening the western sun lights up the church in dramatic golden contrast to the blue hills of the Presidio and the Marin Headlands behind.

Yesterday afternoon I decided to try a value study of the church in paint, so the above painting uses only brown, blue, and white. For this view I climbed up the forested hill of Buena Vista Park a few blocks above my house and found a spot on a trail where I had a good view of the church.

Study of St Ignatius as seen from Buena Vista Park II
SOLD
charcoal on paper
about 12 x 16 inches

After struggling with the paint yesterday I resorted to charcoal today. Charcoal feels comfortable and familiar compared to messy, gooey paint.

A nice USF couple on mountain bikes stopped to say hi and took my picture. I gave them my card and they were nice enough to email me the photo! See how bundled up I am in coat and scarf... and this was the WARM day!