Charleston spots

This Spring, I've been doing a bunch of these small paintings of different spots in Charleston. The paintings are done on small wooden panels, with linen stretched over them. This is a new surface for me, as I usually like the slight 'bounce' that a stretched canvas brings, but I had all these extra wooden panels that I couldn't let go to waste. They are all 7.5" x 10", and they were all done in one shot, usually a 2 hour session. I usually make a few touch-ups, or re-work certain areas in the studio later, but for the most part, they are one session paintings. It took me awhile to adjust to such a small size, but I'm starting to like it now; it gives me no excuse not to finish the painting in one shot.

St. Philip Street progression

   I've pretty much reached the end of this painting. It's a fairly large painting (30" x 34.5") and I've been working on it regularly for about 2 months. An earlier post showed the prep work that went into it, but I've also documented the progression of the painting from start to finish. I've been doing this for a lot of paintings recently. Initially I thought it would just be fun to see, but for me it also provides a map of where I've been with the painting, and hopefully, where it is going. Each photo documents a painting session (give or take a few) which is usually about 3 hours. I did most of the work in the studio, but returned to the site to paint from the motif about 3 or 4 times. It's hard to do a painting this large on site... it takes a long time to set up, you're bound by weather conditions and the wind is always a disruption on rooftop paintings. At a certain point the light changes too much over the course of 2 months, so there's a lot on invention and relying on photos in the studio anyway. I think it's about as resolved as I can make it at this point, and I want to submit it for an exhibition soon. Here's the different stages with the final image when I stopped:

1st layer; washes of color over gesso. Used an actual size mock-up drawing to guide me

Thickening the layers of paint as I go; still fairly thin

Return to site, capturing the light and correcting the drawing

Adjusting the color in the studio. It's amazing the difference in color between outside and inside

Creating a surface density for the sky

Return to the site; working on the atmosphere from foreground to background

In the studio; blocking the cloud formations in from photographs

Back on site; clarifying things once more

Building the surface in the studio

Developing the clouds more; balancing 'looser' passages and 'tighter' passages

Final stage: noodling, straightening, balancing...the maddening part

   So at this point it's being put away. Sometimes when I put a painting away for awhile and bring it back out, what needs to be fixed will jump right out at me. There is a story I read about Claude Monet, who was known to want to go back into paintings after they were sold, sometimes many years later. Collectors didn't want him to view the work they had of his, because he would almost inevitably want the piece back so he could work on it more. I totally understand...a painting is never really 'finished', it is usually just stopped.

Steeples, Triangles and Diagonals

 

   
     Here are some sketches for a new painting I'm planning. These were all done on site, and include a variation on slightly different angles of some buildings downtown. Once again, this is a rooftop parking garage scene; usually where I park when I go to teach drawing at the College of Charleston. This angle caught my eye: the deep canyon of space rolling back and ending at the back of St. Matthew's church (for some reason depicting the back of a church, rather than the facade seemed like an interesting idea). The vanishing point falls to the left of center, along a deep space where the eye follows the sharp diagonals like a bowling ball towards the center pin. There is a repetition of triangular shapes and a diagonally receding series of church steeples. I'm looking forward to the raking light of Fall and recreating this scene in the studio. I've yet to determine the final size, but around 3' x 4' is what I'm imagining...

King and Queen (in progress)

   

King and Queen (in progress); 22" x 25"

     So far this summer I've been working intermittently on 2 larger paintings, the 'Front Yard' from the previous post, and this one, King and Queen. I'm painting it downtown, from the roof top of a parking garage, which is literally on the corner of King Street and Queen Street. The view caught my attention because addition to the street names, the 2 churches in the distance look like the King and Queen from a chess set...a little visual pun that made me smirk.
     I was initially attracted to the brick, and how to paint that warm glow of the sun on the side of the building. With the format almost square (I can't stand working on a true 'square'), my vantage point is looking severely down towards the street. The building on the corner is slightly right of center and has become an exercise in 2 point perspective. The light for the painting has proved quite difficult, because the 2 planes of the building (the one in sun and the other in shadow) is only there for a small window during the morning. If I get there by 9am, I have until about 10-10:30 until that left side moves out of shadow. Sometimes things like this can keep me nimble with the painting, working under a time constraint or specific weather condition.

pencil, 18" x 21"

      I did a few preliminary drawings to figure out my vantage point, and took some photos to capture the light. I've gone back a several times to paint on site, but my schedule has been very erratic this summer because of travel and family obligations.

pencil, 11" x 9"

pencil, 6.5" x 9"

     I want to hold back a little with getting overly descriptive painting the architectural details. I obviously enjoy drawing and painting these motifs, but I want to try and evoke the forms and presence of what's there without 'overloading' it. The light and solidity of form is what I'm after here, as well as, creating a sense of space as you move towards the horizon. Most likely I will continue working on this into the fall...

Charleston (re)Building

     Here's some new work that's been going on in the studio. Downtown Charleston is going through a phase of urban renewal, with new buildings popping up and old ones being rehabilitated. I thought it was a perfect opportunity for a new series of paintings and drawings. In Charleston, they carefully dismantle old buildings, stripping it down to the original wooden beams and posts, sometimes temporarily jacking up a building, while they re-do the foundation. I find it fascinating and odd...in New York, they would just demo the whole thing and rebuild from scratch. Not only do I find the forms interesting, as the 'guts' of the building are laid bare, but it seems like a perfect metaphor for the making and remaking of a painting.

small sketch book study, 6" x 9"

   This one building in particular has caught my attention. I pass it every day on the way to my kid's school. It's right off the elevated highway as you enter the crosstown through the Charleston Peninsula, and each day I watch as the building changes appearance. I worked on all these from photos, just because of the constant state of flux that the building is in.

pencil, 15" x 22.5"

     Here's a painting based on the small sketchbook study:

oil, 15" x 20"

     I want to keep the paint fresh and loose like the drawing...hard to do sometimes working from a photo. Still working on this one...I'll probably scout out some more spots as I see interesting construction projects in the works. The weather's warming up a bit, so I can head outside again.

charcoal, 22" x 30"

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...

Charleston Rooftops finished

25" x 34"

     Here's the finished painting "Charleston rooftops".  I've been working on it obsessively for the past 2 months or so and I feel like whenever I do a large involved painting like this, I can no longer "see it". When I get to that point it's time to wrap it up, sign it, put it away. Sometimes I'll pull out a painting after a few months of not looking at it, and instantly see a change I need to make. I used to be very strict about not working on a painting after signing it (for me the signature was always like some door that was locked, and you could never go back to working on it again). Now I'm a bit more casual about it. I have a painting of mine hanging in our bathroom, that I stared at for about 3 years, until I was able to figure out it needed a few more brush strokes in certain areas. Paintings can never really be finished for me; there is always something that can be improved, moved, heightened or done better. At a certain point, the artist just has to leave it alone...nothing more can be gained from the experience. Of course there are always areas that need to be freshened up, a color that goes dead or a line or brushstroke that isn't animated, but this process can go on endlessly. It's always better to not overcook it...the painting will let you know if it needs more.

Here are some details:

 

Prospect Park

Here's a series of paintings I did recently in Prospect Park. I live a block away from the park, and in my opinion, it's definitely one of the greatest things in Brooklyn. I certainly couldn't have lived here as long as I have without it, and over the years I've come to know just about every part of it. Long walks by myself, with my wife, or my kids...it's given me a head space that everyone needs, especially living in the city. I also needed a break from doing paintings of the Gowanus area; more green and less garbage and filth.

I love the light at this time of year, with the sun getting low in the sky, causing those long, crisp shadows. I was also interested in painting these meandering paths which lead your eye through the space. Kind of funny that they're punctuated by garbage cans...can't really escape the trash, can you?! They're all 12" x 18" and relatively 'quick' paintings; about 4-5 hours and usually over a couple of days, which has been a nice break from the longer, more sustained paintings I have been doing.

  

I have a disturbing story which goes with this last painting. While I was out working one day, I had the one of the bandshell (below) leaning against a tree behind me. As I was painting (the first one, at the top of the post), I see off in the distance 4 kids (probably in high school, about 16 years old) coming towards me on the path. I could tell right away they were trouble; just loud and goofing around, pushing each other, cursing, etc... and not in school at about 2pm. So as they come up, one gets right up in my face..."Whatcha drawin?" Most of the time, painting in public can be really annoying, this being a perfect example. Just by his question, I could tell he wasn't really interested or serious, so I just pointed ahead of me and said "That" and kept working. They pull back behind me, and I can hear them whispering and snickering, and then the kid who asked me the question, runs towards my painting leaning against the tree, and boots it like a football. They start laughing, run ahead, and I'm left kind of speechless and really pissed. "Really cool, tough guy!" I say as I pull out my phone and call 911, just to see what would happen. They keep walking, the operator asks me if it's an emergency...which upon further reflection, I realize it isn't. I explain what happened, and she asks me if I'm willing to talk to a police officer. I figured by the time they got there, the kids would have been gone, and I really just wanted to keep painting. I say "Forget it" and hang up. Luckily he kicked the painting right on the frame's edge, so nothing happened to the painting, except some dirt and leaves got stuck in the paint when it landed face down. I let it dry for a few days, and washed it out with some water. Really made me mad and shook me up....what the hell is this world coming to? Now I have to watch out for some petty thugs who will kick my paintings around while I work? Let's just say I'm looking forward to working inside again as the weather gets cold.