Marion Square

    

oil study: 10" x 15"

     I've decided to continue the with a series of paintings of Charleston from an elevated vantage point....my parking garage series. The highest points downtown (besides the church steeples) are the top floors of parking garages, and they offer me a good spot to paint. Nobody's there, the parking fees are low and the views are great. 
     This one is of Marion Square, a large public square at the heart of downtown. I was there a few weeks ago for a holiday celebration for my kids' school, and afterwards I went up to the roof deck to check out the view. A large "X" forms as two walking paths cross diagonally across the square; I found these shapes interesting...a pattern only appreciated from this elevated view. I decided create a symmetrical composition with the steeple of the Baptist church in the center and having it slightly off-set with this large X.

charcoal: 22" x 30"

       I did a few drawings in my sketch book and returned to do a larger charcoal drawing. A few weeks had passed and most of the leaves had dropped from my initial viewing. A few of the trees had wonderful yellow leaves, and I would have liked to had them to work from for the painting...The small oil sketch has them, but now the landscape looks somewhat more barren and muted. The sun is extremely low in the sky now, so there are some nice raking shadows to play with. Not sure how this will evolve as I just started the larger painting. I've got some photos to work off of, but it might be interesting to work on it through the winter and see how the scene changes with the coming of the new leaves in the spring. Another advantage of working in the South is that the Winters are really mild and short....I might have leaves start coming in March.
     I'm planning out another Angel Oak painting which I will blog about soon, and I will also be working towards putting a show together of about 12 paintings and drawings to show in Charleston in May. Check back soon for more updates...