THE DAILY URBAN LANDSCAPE #8 PINE STREET

Decided to stay in Philly for one more day before moving on, but will definitely be returning.  I lived in Philly for for four years, 3 of them in apartments on Pine Street, just a few blocks from the homes in this painting.  Unfortunately they were not as elegant as these.

Pine Street

Watercolor 16x20

Circa 1984

I would walk to classes in the morning in coat and tie (Jefferson's required dress code in the earl 60s) and see the students at the nearby Phila. College of Art in jeans, sweaters, etc., carrying their portfolios, and wondered why I envied them as I did.

MANHATTEN STREET SCENE

I'm making progress. I finally overcame my inhibitions and began loosening up in the foreground. Here is how the day ended. There remains a few details that need my attention.

URBAN LANDSCAPE IN PROGRESS

I've been forcing myself to work for the past week. For whatever reason, I decided to paint another urban scene, this one a little different from the last one I posted a few months ago.
It has been a slow process due to my lack of enthusiasm plus an unfamiliarity with the technical approaches needed for the work. With few exceptions, all of my urban paintings have been rendered in watercolor.

Although the scene is different, I'm attempting to follow the same approach as I used in this pastel painting a few years ago, with an abstract/impressionistic foreground against a stark, geometric background.


Orchard St. NYC pastel

The background - the easy part is done. Now I have to tackle the foreground which I find much more difficult to do.


Work in progress acrylic 30x20