Davies climbed Mount Tamalpais in Marin County to create drawings for this atmospheric view of Stinson Beach and Bolinas Lagoon. He was interested in the colors of the landscape, painting the deep, inky blues of the Pacific Ocean and the warm, golden hills leading to the beach below. Painting from the mountain, which he likened to Greece’s Mount Parnassus, Davies emphasized the sweeping panoramic qualities of the scene below: using long, arcing contours, he compresses the hilltop perspective, holding the viewer high above the water.