Global warming—if it’s a reality can lead to opportunities to paint more. I guess that’s a good spin a bad problem but I need all the good I can get.
I’ve been thinking about doing some street scenes in the historic part of Roswell for a quite awhile now and finally got up my nerve to give it a go. I really don’t like a lot of people looking at my work as I paint but I am getting use to it. I hedged my fear with the idea of getting out early before the crowds start to gather and that was accurate. I was set up and started before 10am Saturday and Sunday morning. I used a few on my newly made 12 x12″ boards for both of these views and was able to take advantage of my new pachade that lets me paint bigger.
The first view is head on of a red painted building being renovated on Canton Street. This use to be the old Gene and Gabe’s—a dinner theater that I guess went out of business a few years back. The new owners decided to make a splash and paint it Chinese red. It’s quite an eye opener and I didn’t mess with any subtle angle – just straight on. I started this Saturday without the benefit of white! I left it out of the bag so I returned Sunday and finished this one.
I decided to drive to the art store near and buy a tube of white and get some lunch. From there it was a short drive to McFarlan
e Nature Park so I decided to spend the afternoon. This is the second time I’ve painted here and everything is different without the Ginko trees leafed out. But I came up with a an idea of the back lighting the farm house and using a large foreground. Composition is a huge factor in plein air, when I dismiss it I usually end up with disappointing result no matter how I paint. I think this one works well.
Sunday morning I finished the red one and as noon drew near I started the other square with this street view just up Canton Street. By afternoon the tourist were out in throngs and I was in the thick of it. Surprisingly, only a few were brave enough to stop and chat. I use figures in both of the Roswell paintings as I like to do when they are an integral part of the experience. I had to do a bit of touch up on both when I got home—most notably the red one after dropping it in the pine straw. You can see the previous days yellow scratched out of the blue sky—I thought this improved it, so it stays for now.