Painted Alley Cropped

 

Photo reference and casein underpainting

Same alley different composition, and another day. Another cropped edit of the same photo shows the person in the distance more plainly. This colour scheme veered away from the warm sunlit tones to a cooler yellow complimented by cold blue darks. I don’t like when my paintings become fussy. Maybe that’s why I’m working so small. If it all gets boiled down to abstract essentials like the distribution of value and temperature, the whole thing works together more. I’m attempting to indicate direction of brush stroke also, with an intention to work larger. When I photograph it and look at it later, seeing it differently, I hope to sort out what this is- abstraction, colourfield, illustration (oh,no! Not that!) romantic nostalgia, atmospheric realism, or just clumsy paint handling:)

Painted Alley

Cropping, Notan, Focal Point and Palette

 Recently I watched a short video by Mitchell Albala about creating Notan studies for landscapes, and it got me thinking, could that help me simplify overwhelming detail in sketching? Could it jumpstart a better composition for a painting? 

The iPad is a great tool for cropping a photo and layering a Notan in was doable. 

When drawing from the photo I was defining shapes of shadow and light- a better approach than defining edges as lines- (no wonder that gets overwhelming) and shapes are relatively easier to draw. Less tension around placement and proportion.

Gouache is a way to make colour decisions and make 5x7 inch thumbnail paintings. I see this painting much larger in oil or acrylic. Scale would make the end of the alley visible- as it is a focal point, after all.

Pictures of Japan

Anyone who appreciates minimalist architecture would enjoy Japanese Cities. My photos were sometimes just of streets scenes when some aspect caught my eye within the linear flow of the street and buildings. Harajuku- Takeshita Dori street is a popular Tokyo neighborhood that caters to a vibrant youth culture. The curved building is interesting. I think the second floor was for rent!

Harajuku Takeshita Dori

I seldom finish. Partly because I fall in love with it, but I don’t want it ruined, and partly because I’m already dissatisfied and as long as it’s in the drawing board I’ve got skin in the game! Not so wonderful is the accumulating graveyard of un-failed paintings in my studio.

Harajuku Takeshita Dori