A lot on my mind this morning made it hard to focus. I hate this one. As soon as I put in those poles I wanted to quit. They instantly made it into a scene, and now it seems devoid of all the other little railroad signs and posts and wires that were in the scene. It looks unfinished to me. All I wanted to paint was the bridge. Some days you just gotta know when to pack up and go home to hit the shower. acrylic, 11×14″

Before I clean my palette and brushes I’ll darken that bottom third. That may help it for me. This is the only part I currently like:

**EDIT: I started darkening the bottom a bit. I think it’s an improvement. I’ll try to work on this again later. Maybe I can save it. Other things to do right now.

I was tired this morning and really wanted to sleep in, but I went out anyway. Didn’t really feel into it. Deliberately painted this in a higher key than what was observed.

acrylic on canvas, 11×14″

The one below certainly would’ve benefited from some preliminary drawings. There’s something in this scene that I like but drawing could’ve helped me isolate it and make decisions about what I wanted to paint. I don’t think it’s a total loss and I’ll try working on it in the studio this week to save it from the trash can. I think I got too caught up in being literal when what interests me about the location is much less defined. Not sure about this one.

acrylic on canvas, 8×10″

I was standing in a parking lot here (as I usually try to do in the city since it seems like first come, first serve public space) and for some reason at this location people seemed uneasy with me working there. That makes me uneasy and it’s hard to paint. Painting in the city is much more difficult for me than painting in the country. It’s harder to find a subject. It’s harder to find an appropriate place to set up. And it’s harder to work somewhere where you aren’t going to bother anyone else and they aren’t going to bother you. After mornings like this I usually retreat to parks in the country and consider painting my cityscapes from photos.

My opening went well yesterday. Sold some paintings.

I painted in the city this morning. I really like the abstract shapes that buildings can offer. Other days I like to paint weather or distant space. Today, shapes. The first one I wanted to be a quick warm-up. Loose, nothing fancy, not too dedicated to what the scene dictated. It felt good. Doing that usually feels more comfortable than fighting with the scene and letting it kick me around and tell me what and how.

Like with my drawings, I’m trying to dance around that line where these stop being buildings but don’t want to go so far over that line that it’s completely abstract. The areas of this that get further from the truth are the areas that hold my interest the most. The photos I snapped of the scene before I started painting are very uninteresting. An accurate portrait of these houses would also be equally mundane.

acrylic on canvas, 8×10″

When I set out this morning I thought that after the quick warm-up I’d slow down for something more matter-of-fact (which is why they were both small paintings today). But after the freedom of the first one I just let it keep on rolling.

acrylic on canvas, 8×10″

Shapes shapes shapes… and color too. Always color. Since I was planning on doing something more journalistic I brought this canvas un-toned. It’s much easier for me to match colors on a white surface. I think you can see how it lacks the golden under-glow of the other one (which had a tone). Painting on white for my usual technique is annoying though. My paint leans towards lean and thin so I had to work much more to make sure I had coverage. Gaps of white between strokes look harsh.

(**Edit: After looking at this all day I’m liking the cleaner crisp color of the one on white. I’ll take another white canvas with me tomorrow. Maybe I’ll try it again. )