On Ramp

[Bongo]

Started late, and ended up looking down at an on-ramp thru a chainlink fence.

It was cold, and noisy.

the odd angle gave me problems figuring out a composition.

covering the panel

not sure where this is going, but in for a nickle, in for a dime

Finished with this. The panel was poorly gessoed leaving some heavy brushstrokes that caused problems, especially across the center.

The next day I did this in studio, to try and figure out what went wrong. This is on a 12"x16" pre-gessoed canvas panel. First time in a long time I painted on one of these.

more like what I was after, the car got t-boned by a thumb when I was taking the photo.


comments welcomed

 

[Jo Castillo]

Wow, amazing. Both paintings. Interesting the texture in the first, it doesn't take away from the painting. I would have been dizzy sitting there. Whew!

 

[Artyczar]

Love both, SO MUCH! I like both angles--glad you didn't include the chainlink fence. Ha. These are so charming, I can hardly stand it. I wish they were on my walls! I love your style.

 

[Bongo]

Jo, Ayin appreciate the encouragement

 

[Terri]

Both of these are such fun - there's nothing easy about this perspective, not to mention having to look around and through the chain link fence. I love both of them! The studio version has a calmer feel to it, no doubt because you were there and not out in the wind listening to the traffic.

 

[snoball]

You did a great job, Bongo. I was wondering if you were going to include the fence.

 

[Donna T]

That settles it: there is no subject that is too complex or intimidating for you to paint! I like them both and think it's cool that the studio piece has that fresh plein air look too. The trees and building catching the sunlight in the fourth photo might be a good subject for another time - something I notice more often after seeing your city subjects.

 

[Grapes]

The pleinair is very good, but I really like the studio piece! Sometimes the painting location is noisy and cold, you were only lacking mosquitos. lol
Thanks for the story and showing the both paintings.

 

[Bongo]

Terri, Sno, Donna, Mo - I appreciate the kind words.

I am trying to challenge myself - in these types of compositions, I have little ideas on how to proceed. I have full-on imposter syndrome. I'm just faking it until something looks approximately like the scene.

 

[Bongo]

... The trees and building catching the sunlight in the fourth photo might be a good subject for another time - something I notice more often after seeing your city subjects.

Good catch, I was thinking of that myself. This time of year the sun at this latitude hugs the horizon and sets by 4:30. But you get some crazy good light and shadow effects. Also the trees have no leaves so you can actually see buildings.

 

[Grapes]

Bongo, where are you painting? I see no snow in your pictures.
Where I am it's full of snow and temps are going very low from tomorrow on so no pleinair for me probably until spring which is April-May.

 

[Bongo]

I'm in Seattle Washington. Every other year it snows for a few days - but it rains a lot - not hard but often. Temperatures get down into the 30s. My plein air days are numbered until spring. I try to take advantage of dry days.