It has been a while since I posted! Did a painting that did not work out and I worked and worked trying to fix it-I should just have moved on. My recent painting, Evening Stroll is I think more successful. Another Plaza scene in the rain. I was drawn to the asymmetry of the composition.
A note about the process. While I have done extensive plein air painting, I now work from photographs that I take-I usually have a camera with me. I think everyone needs experience in working in the landscape-an experienced plein air painter can make adjustments to photographs. Photos tend to flatten the scene and exaggerate contrast. I just have no desire to stand on a street corner and paint. Light can change in seconds, so I prefer to take a photo of the scene and make something that works-I also tend to paint out of my windows-but even that I usually take a photo for information.
I sometimes use a graph to quickly lay it in-why? Because it is very fast. I can block in the composition is half an hour-do I use this as a crutch? No-I have already have studied the photo and pared in down to what I think will work; the trick is to move on from the photo-but that is true in working outdoors-the important thing-have a passion for what a painter does-I have that passion with cityscapes. I did an 8"x10" study before I did a much larger painting, 20"x24". Again this is another aid that lets me plan my composition. Now I will put this painting way for awhile and then bring it out and see if there are corrections that need to be made.
