THE DAILY URBAN LANDSCAPE #4 WASHINGTON DC

Continuing south, a short hour below Baltimore is our nation's capital, Washington DC.  To accomplish this painting I traveled by train from Wilmington to Union Station, and proceeded to walk my little buns off, shooting almost a dozen rolls of 35mm film before returning home.  The real fun came when I spread out the photos on my large drawing table and began the process of composing a composition that incorporated all that I wanted to include.

The result was a watercolor 18x45" that became this 13x37" print.

America's City

limited Ed. print 13x37"

$50.00

ANYTHING BUT A BARN

I wonder why some people think I only paint barns and farms.  Do you think posting 125  A Barn A Day pics this year has something to do with that perception?  It may be time to consider a different approach, perhaps "anything but a barn a day".  Naw...that's to vague.  It has to be more specific, like "a streetscape a day", or "a storefront a day" - or maybe  "the daily urban landscape".  That's it!  I like The Daily Urban Landscape".

I'll start with the most urban place I've experienced, New York City.

China Town - NYC

Watercolor aprox. 12x16

1982

In 1982 I spent a long weekend in NYC as a guest of my cousin who lived in Manhattan.  For 2 days I walked from one end of the island to the other with my camera, shooting roll after roll of 35mm film.  I accumulated enough photos (slides) to provide a lifetime of resource material.  This is one of my favorites from that series.

URBAN LANDSCAPE

Here is the evolution of this painting:


First stage-



second stage-


At this point I thought I was done, but neither my friend Harvey or my wife liked the trees....so, after considering their input I decided to make these changes...

final? stage-


Urban landscape acrylic 40x30 $2500

They were right. The trees just did not work. What would I do without these critical eyes?

FINISHED!!! (I think)

Here it is...the last installment of the resurrected urban landscape. It will remain on the easel for further review, and be subjected to the harsh but honest eye of my wife. I am reasonably satisfied with the final results, considering the starting point. There are several things I would do differently if I were to do this again, but I learned a lot from this exercise, and find myself anxious to take on another urban landscape


stage one


stage 12


end stage?

RESURRECTION II

It may not look it, but I feel I'm making progress. Yesterday, after several frustrating attempts at painting the skyline I was ready to give up. I couldn't get the colors and the values I needed for things to "work", and in disgust I picked up the palette knife and began smearing on the paint. And to my great delight, that was working, and once again I felt there was a future for this piece. There is still much to do, but my confidence is back and I'm looling forward to the next stage.


Resurrection #2


Resurrection #1

BIG APPLE III

Ending the NYC tour with these final images.


Blues in the Night watercolor


Division Street watercolor


City Hall

BIG APPLE II

A few more NYC watercolors...


I have no idea where this book store is/was located.


Imagine my surprise when I saw a tiny B&W drawing of this bakery in the New Yorker magazine!


I was amazed to find this architectural gem somewhere in the area of the Village.

THE BIG APPLE

I did not spend nearly as much time in NYC as in others, but in one 3 day weekend about 25 years ago I managed to literally walk all over Manhattan and shoot something like 10 rolls of 35mm film. I have been painting from those slides ever since. Here are several watercolors, all done in the mid to late 80s.


looking at Orchard St.


Reflections


Times Square watercolor and colored ink 30x40

WILMINGTON...AROUND & ABOUT

Today will complete the Wilmington journey with a hodge podge of scenes from around the city.


Mendenhall house watercolor
This sorry looking street has since been restored to its former splendor


The Other Side watercolor
This is another block of the city that has survived to be 'gentrified" in the 70s.


Quaker Hill Watercolor
Named after the nearby historic Friends meeting house, these homes were once vacant and provided refuge to the the homeless.


Royal Diner watercolor
Alas, the Royal dinner is no more.

WILMINGTON DELAWARE - A NEW BEGINNING

My artistic roots are firmly planted in this most delightful city which was my home for 16 years. It is here that I began my medical practice in 1971, and years later, my journey into art. Wilmington’s urban landscape was to be my primary inspiration for many years; I found her markets, neigborhood shops, and archtecture irresistable. I loved the color and the texture of her steets as well as the clutter and helter skelter composition of urban happenstance.

In this next series of posts I will try to share some of this city with you. The paintings you will see were all done in the late 70s and well into the mid to late 80s and unless otherwise noted, are all watercolors. (The very early work was pen and ink with or without colored markers.)

7th & Jackson St. Typical of my earliest work...pen & ink with bit of watercolor.


Before watercolor there were markers. Combined with an ink drawing they create delightful, but alas, fugitive imaages.


4th and Market st. Lower Market street was awash with fantastic architecture, old store fronts, and markets, along with King st. Unfortunately many are now gone, in the name of progress. This was a particularly favorite spot of mine.


Looking into downtown Wilmington, many of these buildings remain today, but the entire appearance has been altered.

MORE PADUCAH

My show has closed and the work is now hanging in Gallery 5. Here are several more watercolors from the show.




Why did I wait so long 7x10



What am I doing here aprox 30x18



If I stand here 8x15

LOOKING BACK -2-

NYC Blue pencil-watercolor mid 80's

On a previous post I wrote about looking back at a body of old work. It began a process that seems to have taken on a life of its own. What began as an effort to find some "busy work" to do has become a serious endeavor.



Washington St. pen-ink-markers 1978

In the beginning, the late 70's and well into the 80's, my interest, no, my fascination, was with the urban environment. I loved painting the shops and markets in the older sections of Wilmington Delaware. The textures, colors, and the history of those places pulled me to them. As I aquired more facility with the medium, my interests expanded, as did the scope of the work, steet scenes and skylines began to replace the single store front or corner store. Architecture itself became a focus of a lot of my work. I found my inspiration in Wilmington, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, as well as other smaller cities and towns.
In 1985, after almost 20 years of living in the city, I moved to a small farm in nearby Maryland. Soon afterwards this new environment began to insert itself into my art. Even as I continued to paint the city, rural landscapes and barns began showing up on my drawing tables and for the next decade I painted both the urban and rural environments.

I’ve been fascintated by this experience, seeing so many of these old paintings in one concentrated dose. (I have scanned about 40 slides over the past several days.) My reaction to them has been mixed. Although they all show a fairly basic level of technical facility, there are some pieces that appear overtly simple and somewhat crude, there are others that I find pleasing and capable of withstanding the test of time. To be sure, they are all naive and perhaps even primative, but it is precisely this freshness that supports them.

Over the years my work has evolved in style, subject, and media and I am pleased with these changes. But, looking back, I find myself wondering, does all of this :growth” represent progress? Have I lost something along the way? Specifically, have a lost the feshness and enthusiasm that motivated me over 20 years ago?

Perhaps this is just one more issue to throw onto the pile of issues which artists must deal with.