New York Trip

Today I am sharing my work from the damp streets of NYC. I tried Ken's approach, which is an interesting one. If you look at his website, you can see a video demo of his work in progress (under workshops). You can see he starts with a black paint sketch and then builds up his color blocks. Now what really sort of threw me and the rest of the class was that he see light (sun) as "cool". Granted, when you lighten with white paint, it will cool it because white tends towards blue. And when you have cool light, you get warm shadows. That makes sense to me, but the idea that its always that... when I looked at the buildings before me and saw warm grays and ochres, etc. was very strange. He had convincing arguments, and its not my place here or anywhere to speak for him or represent him. But I am curious what other's thoughts are on "light". Does it change temperature? Is it always towards the blue or cool because of the sky? And if you see this way and paint it as such... do all your paintings look alike? Mine did! See below:





On Sunday, I decided to paint what he painted. Literally, I copied his painting. He thought it a good exercise.

This is our scene:



This is Ken's marvelous painting:



Here is my copy:



Here is a close up of his:


We used a limited palette and he used a LOT of paint. Definitely click on the image above to see it in detail. I want to try this myself. If only I could find the time to "play" this week. So far, everything at home is falling apart. Again, Ken is a fabulous teacher. I highly recommend him if you are interested in loosening up, painting lush cityscapes and creating art and not just copying a scene. And if you think it looks easy or unfinished, let me tell you, he worked very hard to create it.

Morning Drive

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

This was another scene I witnessed yesterday morning - through my rear view mirror. Done from memory. We sure had a lot of rain last night again and some areas had hail and the chance of tornadoes developing. None did, thank goodness.

Stormy Commute

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

This morning I had to head out early to take my doggie for her haircut and caught sight of 183 South backed up on a rise with the clearing storm clouds giving way to sunshine.
I sketched it while I was stopped at a traffic light and tried to commit it to memory. I liked being able to witness something and then come home and interpret it from memory. Its really good practice. And it was definitely practice in being loose and suggestive.

Rainy Times

7x5 oil on panel
$100 + $11 s/h - sold

This was such fun to paint. I vividly remember my first sight of Times Square. I was overawed. It could not have been more perfect for a painter with a light mist falling as well. It was a visual feast and I loved all the reflected lights and color. Everyone seemed happy there too - regardless of the damp.

Park Avenue Rain

7x5 oil on panel
$100 + $11 s/h - sold

I am not a miniaturist! And this was a lot to fit into such a small format. I think that is why city scenes have always daunted me. The buildings are often many different colors, the traffic, the layers upon layers of things... all have to be simplified or it looks a mess.
I am not sure I managed to get past "mess" with this scene of a rainy evening in NY. There are parts I like very much, but, as usual, I can't quite get a good photo of it.
BTW - have I ever mentioned that if you were to buy one of these paintings and hate it, I will gladly take it back, in the same condition it left me, and refund your money.