Warm February 2014

[caption id="attachment_461" align="alignnone" width="500"] View from a Parking Lot[/caption]

It was a warm and sunny February afternoon. I was happy to be painting in Northampton again. Revisiting a painting from a month ago, the sky seemed too dark. It was not working with the overall surroundings. After adding some light on the top, the dark sky morphed into a dark shape in the background. The door was moved more to the right until it was removed completely except for a few lines as a reminder. After a few hours of work, I realized this painting might not get any better. It is finished.



It is sometimes fun to see how a painting changed and evolved.  Here are 4 progress stages from different days of December last year and the final painting yesterday.

February Opening

[caption id="attachment_240" align="alignnone" width="276"] January Snow, 2011[/caption]

Treasures Large & Small, Group show
Zullo Gallery
February 8 - March 23 2014
Reception: THURSDAY March 6, 5:30-7pm
456A Main Street Medfield, MA
hours: 12-5 Saturday & Sunday

Little more Texture

 

There were 3 major structures that did not seem to fit in this painting. The yellow wall divided the house into 3  similar horizontals. There were no other shapes echoing or complimenting a big triangle roof of a middle house. The blue house on the left is a dead space, not very useful. These all have been removed or cropped.

Paints in my palette were drier than usual. Instead of making a fresh color palette, I started using the drier paints. It was harder to apply and I had to extensively use a knife.  I usually smooth out the texture created by the knife.  This time however, I loved the texture from dried paint crumbs. From this experience, I am planning to explore texture  for future work.

Orange Excavator In Progress

[caption id="attachment_350" align="alignnone" width="500"] Orange Excavator[/caption]

This is the first painting I have worked on that needed a lot of orange. A few hints of architecture was painted on the background. It has been removed since it made the painting a little busier. I was worried about orange overtaking the whole painting; however, a large, quiet and empty white space actually worked. It made the excavator iconic. It is still work in progress.