Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Lunch on the Steps


6x6 oil on panel
$100 + $11 s/h - sold

Sometimes there are so many ways to paint something that its hard to know if you've done it the right way. What I mean is that the steps and plaza could have been brighter and more yellow, like they were bathed in sun, or they could have been cool and blue, which is more what they were (a gray granite)... or they could be rosy and pinkish, or ochre. Its really endless. And each choice conveys a different feeling. Am I entirely satisfied with this color choice? Not really to be honest.

I'm beginning to learn to paint not exactly what I see. That may seem strange. But in order to capture and convey sunlight, one has to "invent." Or enhance. It is impossible to paint light, or even the full spectrum of color we see, but there are some tricks I am learning. Take Ken Auster... his city scenes are fabulous, but they are not exactly representative of what those buildings truly look like. Usually one side of the street is bathed in shadow colors (cool) and the other all warm, sunny colors. He doesn't carefully copy each building's particular masonry. But there is a color scheme which unifies the painting and creates a scene bathed in sunshine. Another great painter to look at is Kim English... his works just seem to glow. But were the sidewalks really paved in gold?

Well this just became a ramble. Back to the easel now to try again.

2 comments:

Melody said...

Your right Robin, you can't always paint what you see. At times you need to change things up to make the piece work. I have always like Aster's work but had never seen English's. Really lovely.

Chris Ousley said...

Good work. I like your figure work. I keep meaning to try an interior with people. Some day...

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