Plein Air San Francisco Waterfront “July 30, 2014,” Attributed to S K Farnsworth

Details

Description

This vibrant landscape is a plein air drawing executed primarily in oil pastels with colored pencils on paper or board. … Read more This vibrant landscape is a plein air drawing executed primarily in oil pastels with colored pencils on paper or board. The composition depicts a waterfront view of San Francisco's historic Ghirardelli Square and the Aquatic Park pier area, looking back toward the city's red brick buildings and towering urban backdrop.
A detailed wooden pier system with deep structural pilings is anchored into a brilliant, stylized turquoise water layer. A white marina shack housing a dry-docked boat hull sits immediately adjacent to the docks. In the background, the iconic brick architecture of the old chocolate factory facility is topped by the globally recognizable cursive "Ghirardelli" signage.

TECHNIQUE: The rich, textured layers, intense pigment saturation, and visible strokes are characteristic of pastels rather than traditional wet paint. The linear textures in the sky and water highlight a heavy, descriptive drawing approach.

INSCRIPTIONS: "En Plein Air”, as cleanly documented on the lower-right margin, means this piece was drawn en plein air—a French expression translating literally to "in the open air". With the date, It means the artist sat directly on-site on July 30, 2014 to record the scene live rather than working inside a studio from a photograph.

STYLE: The Ghirardelli Square work offered here--when considered with Farnsworth’s "Signed Bay Area Landscape of the Japanese Tea Garden," the "Signed Landscape of Oakland’s Historic Lake Merritt" and the "Signed Contemporary Marin County Seascape," each being sold separately--underscores the artist’s deliberate approach documenting public landmarks around the San Francisco Bay.

ARTIST: S.K. Farnsworth is a highly skilled contemporary independent artist and regional landscape painter. While not a historically digitized 20th-century master, Farnsworth captured localized cityscapes and maritime environments around the Bay Area. The artist relied heavily in this work on direct observation of light, industrial shapes and coastal geography to shape a distinct, stylized impressionism.

Signature/Maker’s Mark: Nonexistent. Unframed dimensions: 9.75 inches high x 12.5 inches wide. See less