7/22/13

Finding Beauty Where It's Not


"Boom Truck" 
10" x 20"

I have spent the last twenty-eight years or so designing signs for a living. The truck pictured above has become a very familiar view. I took a picture of this install truck while I walked into work one early morning and I thought it would be a fun to try and simplify all the details and to try and create something pretty out of a subject most people wouldn't find that way. I took my time drawing this out because any drawing issues would be very obvious. I started painting in my darks and linking them together to give weight to my subject. The truck was back lit, so I tried to paint a lot of the reflected light and to soften up the edges in my darks because I didn't want them to overpower the color and become a distraction. I saved the hardest edges and the brightest colors for the areas I wanted you to look. This painting became about the implied details and when viewed up close becomes more abstract in appearance.



3 comments:

  1. For an old wall dog like me this is the Mona Lisa.

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  2. I love this, and I too used to design signs for a living but only for a few years, before going back to art school. Finding good subjects in the ordinary is always a good thing and this really works, almost in an abstract way too.

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  3. Thank you Jim and Nigel!I'm pretty happy with this one, but I'm sad, that the market for a painting like this may be limited.

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