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A Commissioned Painting for a Friend Update


It's been a few months since I updated this post. So, here is the latest on this project. If you missed any of it, here is the entire post. A Commissioned Painting for a Friend



At this point it's all about refinement. I am slowly bringing out detail.


Here I am getting a feel for the people on the street, colors, shapes, and highlights.


This side of the canvas needs more work. The angle of the street isn't quite there yet, and the tree is still a green blob, but it's coming together.


I am trying to create definition from the background to the foreground.


Here you can see a little more depth looking down the street. Remember, that I am not going for photo realism. This type of painting tends to be a little more impressionistic than anything else, so I don't want to overdo the detail.


I am quite happy with the colors that are emerging on this side of the canvas, but the people still look like something out of the Walking Dead. I don't want zombies in this work, so further on I will begin to really refine the people on the street.


Stepping back from the canvas you can see that the painting is coming together as a whole. I don't want to overwork one side and leave the other side out. Painting is an experience that is learned. A little here, a little there, but never too much in one area otherwise it will look unbalanced.


This is a little more true to the actual colors. It's a real mix with warm and cool, but it is becoming very cohesive.


Here is a little more work on the tree in the foreground as well as the street sign.


The colors here look great to my eye. I am beginning to pull out shadows on the sidewalk even though the people still look a little stiff. I look at them as if they are place holders. What I mean by that, is that my next step in refining the people on the street is that I will do many sketches of different people walking, shopping,  and moving about the city. I will superimpose them into the scene in the final work.


More blending of colors.


The background is really becoming defined here, and you can see I've added a bit of yellow to the sky to give a little cloud reflection.


Finally, the tree looks like a tree, the sidewalk on this side of the street is now at the correct perspective and the street sign looks like a street sign. I've added a few more reflections and some balance to the color, but I still need to add people on this side of the street, and their shadows. If you look at my sketch in the first post, you can see that there were people on this side too. I will add them in the final painting.


After about a four hour session, it's time to call it quits. I will update this post again for the final painting. I am not rushing this painting at all. Fortunately I am not preparing it for a show or anything else, so I get to savor every moment working on it. Total painting and prep time so far is about 5 months. It's a real pleasure to be able to take this amount of time to work on art for a client. Usually it is a much faster process.

Check back for more updates later.


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