Eliot's Art Blog

This is a recap of the first day of my self-made artist residency.

For day 1, I planned to paint Pigeon Point Lighthouse in Pescadero, CA and Mori Point in Pacifica, CA.

Pigeon Point Lighthouse

Pigeon Point Lighthouse is located in Pescadero, CA, which is roughly an hour and a half drive. I wanted to beat the morning rush hour traffic so I left the house at 5:15am. With me I had some cold weather clothes (it can be so windy along the coast), my lunch, and a large hiking backpack filled with all the gear I need to paint outside.

When I arrived at the lighthouse, it was still dark and it was foggy so visibility was limited. I could hear the waves crashing into the beach below the parking area and once the sun started to rise, I decided I’d go check those out before scouting out where I wanted to paint from.

Unfortunately, once I panned up to the lighthouse, I realized I would not be able to paint it – the lighthouse is undergoing a restoration started in mid-2024 and won’t be completed until early 2026.

Rather than paint another scene at this location, I decided to just head to Mori Point.

Mori Point

Mori Point is located in Pacifica, CA which is about 45 minutes up the coast from the lighthouse. I arrived at the trailhead and oriented myself for the 1 mile hike in.

The fog had been coming and going as I drove to this location and I was hopeful there would be some visibility once I got to the top. After seeing the waves crashing into the beach and disappearing in the not-so-far distance, I was not optimistic:

And alas, when I got to the top, what should have been a dramatic view of cliffside dropping into the ocean was just a blanket of fog:

First painting

I walked out to the edge of the point and all I could make out were a few large rocks in the ocean. I decided to go ahead and paint that despite visibility being low. Here was the scene I decided to paint:

In the end, this was a really challenging painting because the fog was lifting while I was painting which really changed what I was looking at. Here are some progress shots and the painting I ended up with:

There are a lot of self-critiques I have (shape design, atmosphere, composition) but I did end up having a great time and I learned a lot from this painting.

Second painting

After finishing the first painting, I turned around and saw that the fog lifting had completely revealed the view I initially came to paint.

I decided to paint a small 6×8 study of this view.

Wrap up

Despite the challenges, I had a really great first day painting during this month. I met several interesting passers-by, spent time in nature and came away with 2 paintings.