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!

Neighboring

Neighboring, oil on gessobord, 12x9"

I wanted to paint early and quickly this morning. I got the early part right but the quickly didn't work. This painting was supposed to be a 20 minute sketch but turned into an hour painting, because my greens kept getting muddy. At one point I almost scrapped the whole thing but didn't. If nothing else I enjoyed sitting and painting outside, which I am hoping to do more of soon.

Morning Shadows and Red Bud

Morning Shadows, oil on gessoed paper, 12x9"

I was walking my dog this morning on this cold, clear day and returned to find the sun blasting my neighbors garage. I ran inside, grabbed a piece of gessoed watercolor paper, brushes, turp and medium, and I threw some paint on my palette. I moved quickly because I didn't want to lose the light.  Twenty minutes later (I was moving really quickly!) and with frozen hands and legs (I was standing in shorts) I finished this little painting. I am quite happy about a few things here: that I was able to pull this off so fast - actually the majority of my life has been pretty spontaneous so I shouldn't be so surprised, and that I improvised in a few ways I wasn't used to and it still worked. My hands have warmed up enough to type so I will just say, maybe another quick painting later today.

Primrose Alley

Primrose Alley, oil on canvas, 10 x 10"

I just found out the name of the lovely pink flowers that bloom throughout the first half of the summer in Louisville.  When I spotted some in the alley across from my backyard, I snapped a picture. The garage is old and stoic, and it was bathed in morning light.
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