A local artist has been quietly building a small but striking series of 8x8-inch oil paintings capturing the city's most iconic landmarks — and the latest addition is a gorgeous aerial take on the Painted Ladies. You know the ones: those candy-colored Victorian homes on Steiner Street that have graced a thousand postcards and one very famous sitcom opening.

The series also includes Sutro Tower — that gloriously weird trident stabbing the fog line — and, of course, the Golden Gate Bridge. Three paintings, three structural identities, each one a tiny love letter to what makes this 49-square-mile peninsula unlike anywhere else on Earth.

The artist is now mulling a fourth piece and taking suggestions. Transamerica Pyramid? Coit Tower? The Ferry Building? City Hall's dome? Honestly, the embarrassment of riches is the whole point. For a city that sometimes feels like it's tearing itself apart over policy fights, the physical beauty of San Francisco remains stubbornly, almost aggressively undeniable.

Here's what we appreciate about a project like this: it's not subsidized by a municipal arts grant or a bloated nonprofit budget. It's one person, some oil paint, and a genuine affection for the city rendered in 64 square inches at a time. No committees. No DEI audits on the color palette. Just craft.

We spend a lot of column inches around here holding City Hall's feet to the fire — and we'll keep doing that. But it's worth pausing to acknowledge the people who channel their energy into creating rather than complaining. San Francisco's icons aren't just tourist bait; they're the visual vocabulary of a city that, at its best, builds beautiful things.

Our vote for painting number four? Sutro Baths ruins at sunset. But we're open to arguments.