work-in-progress, urban landscape of 10th St. NYC, oil on canvas 20x20 in.
A new one I started today, will post pics of this as it is completed. This layer is burnt sienna + turpenoid, 1″ soft bright used throughout. Am excited about this one, I love this stage of the painting process. I like to keep as much of the roughness and mere suggestion of what is to come for as long as I can. I’m hoping to get these latest ones to be even looser than my usual approach. Blurred edges and lots of motion to be implied, along with warm, glowing light.
I should note that although this starts will a photographic reference, I barely use the photo beyond this stage. The color and lighting from here on in will come from my head, this is the case whether I work from life or start from a photo (ALWAYS my own photos, all are random and not staged or highly composed). The painting is always something new, not a copy of life or a photo. For the first two years of my re-entry into painting, I only painted still lifes from life. This provided a solid understanding of color and lighting which helps when I can’t be on site. My philosophy is that if logistics and schedule permit me to paint something from life I do, if they don’t and it is something I want to paint, I will start with a photo and use it purely as a departure point to create something entirely new.
