Twin Peaks Tavern Painting

"Twin Peaks Tavern"
2014
oil on canvas
24 x 24 inches

I had (mostly) finished my "Twin Peaks Tavern" painting back in late December but I realized soon after that wasn't quite complete - I had forgotten to add the chains from which the light fixtures hang! We can't have light fixtures floating in the middle of nowhere!

This painting is in San Francisco, and I keep all of my painting supplies there at Dean's studios for when we have lessons. Because of this, I needed to wait until I was back at his house (about 6-7 weeks later) to really finish the painting. It worked out well, as I also had to put a coat of varnish on it.

So, now that's it is complete, I can put together my progress photos and notes about the entire painting! I had actually completed it last week while I was in San Francisco, but only getting to the blog post now.

Twin Peaks Tavern is a historic bar on the corner of Castro and Market Streets in the Castro District of San Francisco.

From sfgate.com:

Twin Peaks Tavern, which first opened in 1935 but was purchased by Cunha and Forster in 1971, is believed to be the first gay bar in the nation to feature full-length, open plate glass windows that let its patrons look out, and more importantly, the public look in. The lesbian friends, known to most regulars as "the girls," opened the bar to the world at a time when many gays still feared losing their jobs or being socially ostracized if their sexual orientation was revealed. It has now survived for 40 years as one of the Castro district's most memorable and welcoming establishments.

Dick and I have long enjoyed going to Twin Peaks on occasion to have cocktails on their second-floor balcony. They make great drinks, and it's great for people watching. I took this photo right before we moved from San Francisco to Bellevue.


Original Photo

I popped the photo in instagram, and used a filter to bump up the colors/contrast. I thought it was a strong composition and that it would make for a fun and interesting painting to work on.


The photo after having a filter applied in instagram

Looking at my calendar, and previous blog posts, it looks like I spent six sessions with Dean working on this painting. It is helpful for me to have this info to look back on when looking back on the process of each painting.

Here are some of the various stages the painting went through over those sessions:


session one


session one


session two


session three


session four


session five six: Painting with the original photo source


session six - for all intents and purposes, it's done here, but I forgot to add the lamp chains


the final painting