Morning on Broad Street, Charleston

[Robert]

I'm working this up to a 20x24. I thought I'd play with it a little and try to make the composition better.

#1 - the field sketch
#2 - the first composition drawing
#3 - the second composition drawing

I used a photo for the drawings and I'll use the field sketch for color.

[mnpainter]

I love the forms and the colors, go with it!!!!!!!

Ben

[JanB]

Well... I really like the PA....but I also think this is a good choice for a larger piece because of all the great shapes.

[Bill Wray]

I like how your making the yellow house bigger in the drawing. I think it would be a good idea to let it dominate. Great drawing by the by.

[Bart W]

Agree with Bill. Looks like a good plan, also with some more space in the foreground. And yes, the drawing itself looks good!
You are working hard!

[Brad M.]

Nice start Robert.
If I could make one suggestion, don't rely on the photos too much for the composition. Photos tend to push things in the distance to make them look smaller and farther away. An example is the last house in your painting. In the PA it fills a larger area than in the drawing based on the photo. I think that the PA gives a a better portrayal of what it looked like as you stood there. Photos are great reference for details and specifics. But I find PA paintings help more with composition (as well as color and value.)
All of my studio work is a combination of reference photos and PA, but I find the more I use the PA paintings the better the results.

PS. do you live in or near Charlston, my brother just moved there.

[Robert]

Good morning! Thanks for the input. Below is the block in, which took about an hour. I didn't carefully draw out perspective lines but I can see the usefulness of doing so. I drew it out using a mix of primaries and a #2 round.

Brad, I agree with you totally about the limited usefulness of photos. I'm about four hours away from Charleston. I hope your brother likes it there.

I'll start painting this afternoon and I'll try to finish it by Wednesday.

[Robert]

I blocked in some color. The dark areas are thin and can be worked into again once it gets a little tacky. So far, it's not going as I intended but that's OK, I'll just go with it as it is.

[Bill Wray]

You might want to darken the shadow on the yellow house to help light the lit side even more. This is subjective, but I'd try and make the yellow house your center of attention. That means playing down the red house next to it. ;_)

[Robert]

You're right about the shaded part of the house, Bill. Attached is what I did yesterday. It's still a long way from finished and it probably won't make it as anything I want to show.

I'll continue to work on it but I think I'll just use it to try some new things like playing around with color and details.

Meanwhile, I've been enjoying looking at West Fraser's site. He really does the old houses in Charleston nicely in his own distinctive way. Here's his site for anyone who's interested:
http://www.fraserfoxfineart.com/modules/tinycontent/index.php?id=1

I'm heading out to Wilmington, NC tomorrow to do some field sketching (outdoors again - yippee!). I think this time I'll do more drawings, too.

[Jholdren]

Looking good Robert!
Have fun in Wilmington. There are some great places to sketch there. My wife and I are heading to Cape Hatteras in September. Rented a beachfront cottage and hope to get lots of sketches done.

I love the play of light in this piece so far!

Justin

[Bill Wray]

You're right about the shaded part of the house, Bill. Attached is what I did yesterday. It's still a long way from finished and it probably won't make it as anything I want to show.

I'll continue to work on it but I think I'll just use it to try some new things like playing around with color and details.

Meanwhile, I've been enjoying looking at West Fraser's site. He really does the old houses in Charleston nicely in his own distinctive way. Here's his site for anyone who's interested:
http://www.fraserfoxfineart.com/modules/tinycontent/index.php?id=1

I'm heading out to Wilmington, NC tomorrow to do some field sketching (outdoors again - yippee!). I think this time I'll do more drawings, too.

If you ad a little more violet to your yellow shadow it will nutralize it in a pleasent way.

[Robert]

Thanks, Justin. Hatteras should be a nice place to vacation for you. September is a great month to be there.

Bill, I used cadmium lemon yellow and a pinch of dioxazine purple - maybe a little cadmium orange - for the shadow side of the yellow house. Maybe it could use a little more purple but it has so many other problems I'm not sure it's worth it. A couple of inches makes a big difference in a composition and I should have been more careful in laying it out. The last drawing I did was OK but when I went to the canvas, I dropped the roofline and left too much sky, which was the first mistake. Another error was cavalierly dashing in the layout without planning the perspective - so now there are major perspective problems. That sort of thing might be charming in some cases - it is in some of West Fraser's paintings, but West is so savvy with his other design elements and color that a tilt here or there doesn't make any difference in the coherence of his compositions - and when he needs perspective, as in his rooftop paintings, he's very careful and accurate with it.

So, anyway, this one's a bust - I lke the color of the sky, though :) .

[Bart W]

Business....
busk...
Bust I zn buste; go on the bust -, aan de zwier gaan;go -, failliet gaan, over de kop g..
Ahh... get it.

Well, don't worry too much Robert - learning is the way, no matter how good or bad you are - and making "mistakes" is the best way to learn.
Maybe you can let it rest for a while and look at it later if you think it's worth picking up again? If nothing else it could be a great piece to try what Bill's suggesting or some other "experiments".
Have enjoyed following this thread anyway!

[manfrommerriam]

Hi.
I've been comparing your 2nd study which is very exciting... with the last posted thumbnail... and I understand thats a WIP. I think you would do well to try to have the studies strong perspective effect in the final work. It is quite dramatic. Maybe recheck those lines going to a vanishing point left, maybe the vanishing point tucked-in closer on the left, as in the pencil work. I also think you are departing from the values of the 2nd sketch though in a WIP it is hard to tell.

I'm hoping to paint in Wilmington NC some day myself. That big bridge over the River for one thing and I think the battleship as viewed through the reeds, etc (from across the river). I did a nice thing of the terminal railway a few years ago but now they run you off.

Nice piece, enjoy it! and have fun! :) Dave

[Rodger Walker]

I hope you don’t change the PA. I love it the way it is. Has a real quality to it that makes me want to go down that street… I guess is kind of pulls me in and I want to see more. If and when I ever create a painting that does that I be happy with it. Real fine art, no pun intended. Thanks for sharing.

[bluemagoo]

wow this is so good. enjoy reading too. thanks for posting. i need to tackle buildings.