I had another oil painting session with Dean today and started a new painting. This is a San Francisco city scene of Dolores Street at 22nd Street. I walk past this intersection a few times a week while on my daily walk. The corner store is a building that I've always admired for its architecture, and I love Dolores Street with all of its Palm Trees. I also love paintings of San Francisco street scenes, and have been wanting to try one for a long time. It thought this intersection would make for a good painting.
It's funny - I told Dean today that I remember that on our first meeting together a few months ago, he told me about all of the different types of subjects that he teaches (portrait, still life, and landscape), and asked me which I would like to do. My reply was, "All of them".
As you've seen, I've now done a few still life paintings, and a figurative painting from a photo.
Time for something new! :)
Yes, I totally recognize how ambitious this painting is, and I'm trying hard not to get too intimidated by it. One step at a time!
Oh, and it's larger, too. This one is 36" x 24". I love painting large. Most of my earlier paintings are 36" x 48" or larger. Although I started to paint on smaller canvases when I started with Dean (and enjoyed it), I find that I keep wanting to go large again! :)
This is the very, very early, sketchy stages of my new painting. I'm just starting to outline it.
Session 1: the very early stages
On an interesting note, I was originally planning on using a cropped version of the photo below as my reference. When I showed the photo to Dean, he suggested that I modify the image, by taking out some of the middle area, and bringing the palm tree on the right closer. He thought it would make for a more interesting composition.
I hadn't thought of it before, but I rather like the idea of painting an idea, rather than painting directly from the photo. It allows more artistic freedom, and I think it will also look less stiff. It'll be interesting to see how it progresses and turns out.
The original photo of Dolores Street at 22nd Street
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
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