Colors Revealed

"Colors Revealed", oil on gessobord, 7x5"

Another day of painting in the fog (and drizzle).  Everything was so monochromatic except for a few patches of green and red.

Plain Garage

Plain Garage, oil on gessobord, 7x5"

This little garage reminded me of a little old lady.  The residents that originally and proudly purchased the homes in my 1920's era neighborhood are long gone, but their souls are hanging on in the form of sweet nostalgic architecture. One of the things that constantly flows through my head as I take my daily walks is the possible lives of the folks who moved in when the neighborhood was brand, spankin' new.  Who were they? what did they do for a living, and most importantly, how were their lives compared to our rushed, frantic, mad world of today. 
Looks can be deceiving....the neighborhood face is still calm, sweet and definitely charming. But the cars rushing down my street breaking the speed limit, and the parents hurriedly cramming their children into cars and returning at night with carry-out, tells a different story.

Alley Beauty, oil on gessobord, 7x5"

For the paintings of the architectural series I have been reusing my Ampersand gessobords from paintings that I didn't care to hang on to after 2 years.  Or as I like to say,  "paint overs".  You will notice some texture within some of the paintings that, despite sanding, still remain. 

"Alley Beauty" was painted this morning in a moment of frustration. I had planned on attending a paint-out in Louisville but circumstances prevented me from going. In order to not cry over spilled milk, I went back to my studio and started another painting from my architectural subjects. Better to make hay while the sun shines. All-in-all, despite my disappointment from not attending the paint-out, I feel successful today. 

Alley Shape

"Alley Shape", oil on gessobord, 7x5"

So I passed on the 30/30 challenge I had been considering, not because I didn't want to do it, but because I got behind at the end of August with non-painting life stuff, and September started before I could put my hands on a paintbrush. I am still going forward with a series I had decided upon before September began, but just not as many paintings in the end. I am calling it "Local Architectural Color and Elements". The first one is above. I have been out roaming my neighborhood in Louisville, and the alleys as well (where I tend to find more interesting subject matter all the way around). My goal is to "slow down" and concentrate on getting the perspective correct, the highlights where they need to be, the angles un-wonkey, etc. You get the picture. I haven't done an architectural series in a while, and I"m feeling the need.

Artful Alley

Artful Alley, oil on gessobord, 12 x 12"

Here is another alley scene, composed with the intention of continuing to practice and hopefully improve my drawing skills, but continue to pull knowledge on form, color, and perspective from the broad landscapes I have been working on.  I am about half-satisfied with this painting. I had trouble with the actual alley and its trajectory and kept reworking it. As I look at the image of the finished product while I write this, I see I still didn't quite get it. Win some, lose some. I think I learned some as well.

Active myrtle, quiet alley

Active Myrtle, quiet alley, oil on gessobord, 12x12"

I have been painting so many broad landscapes over the last year or so, that I started thinking long and hard a few days ago about a possible shift. It's not that I am bored with the subject matter by any means, but I am constantly wanting to improve my painting skills in other areas as well.  I've been looking and studying so many artist who do urban observation really, really effectively and thought maybe I could move with baby steps in that direction.  It requires more patience obviously, because of the detail involved, and it will sharpen my drawing skills.  We shall see. I started with this alley scene so let me know what you think!

Winter's Peaceful Energy

Winter's Peaceful Energy, oil on gessobord, 6"x6"

Snow on the ground, snow in the sky and more to come today.  I will never get tired though, of the peace that comes from a beautiful snowfall. I tried convey this with "Winter's Peaceful Energy".

Snow Tracks in the Alley

Snow Tracks in the Alley, oil on gessobord, 5x7"

The winter has been hard, long, gray but it has given me a lot of ideas and photos to hopefully paint from until spring rears it's beautiful head.  There are two old garages across the alley from my own old garage. On one pitifully gray, snow falling day, they gave me a nice jolt of color when I was taking the garbage out.