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!