Elevated F/G Track (mid summer)

     Here's an updated photo of one of the paintings I've been working on this summer. I wrote an entry on this one awhile back, and since I'll be taking an unexpected break from working on it, decided to photograph it and post. I'll be working on a Richard Haas mural through July, and then it's vacation in Asheville, NC and England for August. (Summer's going quick!)
     It's always interesting to look at photos of my paintings...it sort of condenses the piece, giving me fresh eyes to look at it. I feel like I'm starting to make some advances with it. The light that I'm seeing is translating, and I'm starting to hammer out the space in the painting. Each painting session, I start with the lone tree right in the center of my vision, and work out from there. It's the anchor of the entire painting really, creating this nice perpendicular structure as the focal point. I also like how it's visually sandwiched between the architectural structures of the track supports in the background...an organic growth sprouting from a sea of concrete and stone.
    The space has been tough to get right; alot of shifting things around, tweaking the structures, bending things here and there. The fact that the cars constantly move has been tricky, too. There's been alot of adding and subtracting going on with these players in my visual field. The cars have to be painted quickly...sometimes I'm not able to "finish" them, but I think it gives the composition a sense of fluidity and honesty to the scene. (like watching large pieces on a chess board move around in the space). One sitting my view will be blocked, the next, the veil is lifted and I'm able to see something behind it that the painting needs.
   There are these really subtle things happening with the asphalt in the foreground, too. If it has rained the night before, I can see small seepages of water coming through the cracks, causing the color to darken and appear more violet. Sometimes there will be tire marks from trucks as they go by, altering the patterns on the grey field before me. I'm sad to stop this one for awhile, being that I'm just gaining momentum, but sometimes a break can be good....I'm looking forward to seeing it anew when I return. I'll continue to work on some night paintings through the summer, and hopefully finish this one up in September.