Wednesday is class day. I've been teaching for eighteen years now, and I am constantly on the search for new painting inspirations, and places I can take my class, to teach them how to see light.
I chose this location for a number of reasons; I liked the light falling in the distance. It gave me a certain nostalgic feeling when I looked at it as very little has changed to this particular view over the decades. It was easy access for my adult ed students, and it was a great way to teach them the value of painting in One Point Perspective. Also, as a plein-air painter, it was a way to challenge my students to see the beauty in the ordinary, and often overlooked mundane landscape.
I was surrounded by around twenty students all set up near the railroad tracks. Only one train came by during the class, but that was enough for someone to phone the police, who also showed up and warned us to get away from the tracks, or..or...!
(We were fine, however, I understood they're concern, and I obliged them in their request). Believe me, I would never put one of my students in harms way.
When the painting was nearly completed, I had one of my students walk out into the distance to model for me. This was my 'dash of red'. Adding a figure to a landscape painting can make the painting more interesting to view; it brings a human element to the expression, and gives it a certain nostalgic appeal.
Garden Street Crossing
18"x16" oil/canvas 2008
Painting subject to prior sale
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