42nd Street

Today was the second day of my 2-day workshop with Frank Federico. Yesterday he had us do landscapes, which was something most of us were familiar with. But today he wanted us to do cityscapes featuring vehicles and people! Everyone in the entire class, all 16 of us, admitted this was *way* out of our comfort zone. Eeek.

But I did bring in a photo that suited the theme, even though I was terrified with its "busyness" - but heck, it was a workshop. Being forced out of your comfort zone is part of what a workshop is all about. So the above is the painting I did from my own reference photo. It's done on my usual 9x12 Art Spectrum, with a pastel and turpenoid underpainting. The scene is 42nd Street in New York City, by Times Square. The three foreground figures on the right are actually my daughter-in-law, my son, and my daughter-in-law's sister.

Interestingly, Frank liked my photo well enough that he asked if he could have a copy, as he said he'd love to paint the scene himself - so I gladly gave him the copy I'd printed from my computer. I'd love to see what he would do with the scene! Way more than I did, that's for sure. :-)