After the Storm /  South to Golden Gate Park

After I moved back to the northern side of Golden Gate Park, I found myself looking at the park’s trees every time I pulled back the curtains. I felt somewhat disoriented, since I’d recently been looking at the greenery from the other side.

There was also lots of rain the winter that I moved. The views had a grayish tinge. Stuck inside for so long, I forgot what made me fall in love with the city.

When the rains finally let up in the spring of 2023, it felt like a veil lifted from my eyes. The scenery glittered and colors came back to life. Everything was more vibrant than I remembered. Features stood out in sharp relief. Highlights and deep shadows brought dramatic life to the views once more. The world was warm again, in more ways than one—it felt warm, but it also looked and even smelled warm.

It took a few tries to figure out how to capture all these feelings on paper. Too much warmth looked flat, but the first cool colors I explored were too close to the emotions of the rainy season. Too much brightness felt artificial.

It came down to the balance of color tones. The furthest objects shone when brushed with the sun’s warm oranges and reds. They glowed when set against the cool blues of clouds dissapating in the foreground. The brightness of the far-off sky felt more expansive when reflected from the roof of the distant conservatory. I finally found the feeling I was searching for. Here was the siren call of sunlight beckoning me to explore the city again.