Park Avenue in Spring

Park Avenue-Spring, 30x30, oil on linen

This particular painting left me struggling. I don't normally do downtown type buildings when I paint the city. Then there was the fact I had to force what was in shadows from all the reflected light off of the windows. In the photo reference much of what was in shadow on the left hand side was as light as what was in the sun on the right. There was also light hitting the tulips but they were not in sun at all. Lots of things to think about on this one. This was painted mostly as a local tone (three values, no light source) because so much of it was in shadow although technically it is light and shadow as a visual approach.

I was in NYC exploring on my own. I had walked up to the Frick Museum via Park Avenue and walked back through Central Park on this glorious April day. The day before my cousin and I had gone to the Brooklyn Museum to see a wonderful John Singer Sargent show. After absorbing all the art we could (we did 4 exhibits that day!) next door to the museum are the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens which were in their spring glory with cherry blossoms galore. My cousin lives in NJ but we can take the bus from where she lives for $7 and we are at Port Authority in approximately 20" depending on traffic, of course. There is another John Singer Sargent show coming to the Met this summer that is calling me to come see it. This show will be approximately 75 of his more personal portraits, not the society portraits he is known for. It will be in London and NYC only. The link is not yet posted on their website but I just discovered there is a Van Gogh exhibit there this summer as well so it will be a two for one!

Heading Down Berthoud

Oil on Panel, 9x12

Here is another one from the 30 paintings in 30 days challenge that I finished up from the block in I posted last month. Surprisingly, I did not have to correct the drawing on this one. I have found while going through and reviewing what I did last month that a few definitely needed some correction. To be expected to some degree when working within a tight time frame and after a long day or days of work. It is amazing how hard we hit the ground running after the holidays.

This is heading down Berthoud Pass on Hwy 40. Must have been a wet spring since the hills are so green!

Squaring the Circle or Ordered Chaos?

24x24, oil on Canvas

Unusual for me...I have two good names for this painting. "Squaring the Circle" or "Ordered Chaos." I see value in both darn it. "Ordered Chaos" came out of the block in. "Squaring the Circle" came up upon completion.
This piece was painted with equalization in mind. Lots of repeated patterns and despite all the squares and rectangles it does circle through the square...I thought this painting would test my abilities but it was amazingly fun to paint and despite my best efforts to tone down the colors, I kept coming back to the rich bright colors you see here. Happy Happy Happy!

Ploffskin, Pluffskin Pelicans Three

Oil on Canvas, 6x6

I was going through all my little paintings from January (30 paintings in 30 days) and I came across this one that I did not end up posting because I did not like it at the time. My opinion has changed since I put it away a month ago. For what it is, a quick study, it has something going for it. It has three values for a local tone painting. The composition is good. It is obvious a storm is brewing. I think I was frustrated by the slick surface on this one and the paint sliding all over the place. I gave up on the rolling waves and took the white caps out. Sometimes I roll with it and other times it just seems to be a struggle. This would have been day 16 as I segued from Storm Brewing to this one as they were taken minutes apart.