As I load more wood into the studio stove I think about my old friends walking through my paintings.
A highlight-dot of color, is how I began to insert figures into my landscapes as a focal point. They were so vague and uncommitted, people would ask, “is that light spot a figure back there?”
Over the years as my oils changed to become more comfortable depicting people, the single figure is now often a part of the crowd. This has opened up interesting subjects for me, to the point where I am a dedicated urban painter.
I like standing in the middle of a busy street taking my shots. I do. The funny thing is though, these anonymous faces are starting to feel familiar now.I know them. When I paint my people I think about whether that business man’s brief-case is heavy as he is hurries to get home, trying to make that train. I consider the window shopper and what day of the week it might be that I am trying to capture with each piece. Your peeps will have a different vibe when you take your reference pictures on a Saturday rather than a Monday morning commute. These are all elements that are fun to consider as you work in the studio where the imagination runs away with you.
The business man that was catching the train in Paris twenty paintings ago is now following behind a woman in red, looking in vain for that particular shop on Fifth Avenue.
Paris Figures After the Rain
sold
Fifth Avenue Shoppers, New York (partial closeup)
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