Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Downtown Covington,La. 6" x 6" oil on gessobord

This is another view of Columbia Street. Really it could be any typical Small Downtown, USA. Quite charming. I thought the cars would take something away from the charm, but I feel it most definitely adds something to the painting. Perhaps instead of people walking, it still gives the feeling of life around, inside the buildings.

Bed and Breakfast Uptown N.O. 6" x 6" oil on gessobord

My daughter came in with a group of architect students from college one weekend and we walked the streets of Uptown New Orleans taking photos. So much wonderful architecture here! This was a bed and breakfast that I think was on Prytania street. The blue steps were quite overwhelming in intensity but with the sun shining and also deep shadows on them, I was able to get them calmed down as to not overpower the rest of the painting.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Prytania Street Home II 6" x 6" oil on gessobord

 
I was debating on whether to add foilage on the upper left area of the painting. Magnolia leaves or such. But I decided to stay purely archectural instead. I like the division of space when I cropped a larger photo into this closeup view

Monday, February 6, 2012

Musical Trio 6" x 6" oil on gessobord


 I thought this painting was going to be a challenge but it turned out to be really fun. I still have memories of the night I took the photo at Paton's Restaurant at an art openings which I shared with several other local artists.

Friday, February 3, 2012

The Courtyard 6" x 6" oil on gessobord



This is the photo that I cropped into a square using my computer program. Notice the red pen marks that divide the photo.


"The Courtyard"   6" x 6" sketch
Going through photos that I had taken some time back, I made a folder on my computer with all the ones that I thought had good composition for a potential painting. This was my favorite. You can see the grid that I drew on the canvas, which helped me to sketch from my photo. ( I put the photo in a sheet protector and divided the photo in the same manner as the canvas.)

"The Courtyard"  6" x 6" oil
This was a study in pastel shades of color. The day was overcast when I took the photo.
 You can see that when I took the photo of the finished painting, my camera plane was not the same as the canvas, so the edges are off after cropping for posting. OOPS.



"Columbia Street" sketch
This is the sketch the I did in vine charcoal first. Yes I have a heavy hand when it comes to sketching, but after I paint over the lines with my cerelean blue, I wipe it off with a towel and the charcoal is basically gone. Notice again the grid that helped me to copy from the photograph.

"Columbia Street"   6" x 6"  oil
I like the depth that I was able to achieve by using both linear perspective and color perspective. The red "open" sign and the red shirt in the distance helps give this the depth. The front window is the sharpest edges.
 I think the original painting looks nicer than this photo that I took. I might give it another go on a sunnier day.


"Prytania Street" Sketch
This is only a sketch. Nothing is in stone if I don't like it. For instance that front column is angled slightly too much.

"Prytania Street Home"  6" x 6" oil
I like the angle of this shot. It gives me the feeling of the magnificence of this beautiful home.