People!

Here's about two hours' worth of painting since the last post. I fussed some with the tree on the right (I feel better about how it looks now, but I might fuss with it more before I'm done) and started fussing with the people. At this stage, they remind me a little of Maurice Prendergast (see examples here and here) in that they are undefined blobs of color.



With a few exceptions, the colors of the clothing are going to change dramatically. The first layer is mostly about defining form and trying to capture the subtle hints of color that the average person never thinks about. For example, the woman seated on the left edge of the canvas is wearing a white shirt, with hints of green in its shadows. So, for the moment, her shirt is green, and I will build up the brilliant whites as I go along.

I should mention that the canvas is 20 x 30 inches; the pencil grid is comprised of one-inch squares.



At this stage, I have two choices: continue to work on the left-hand section, or finish putting the initial layer of color on the rest of the figures. My inclination is to focus on the left-hand group, but by the time I get time to paint again, I could very well feel differently about it. (That's what happens when you spend days or weeks thinking about your next actions!)

One decision that I made several weeks ago: the trash barrel in the middle foreground is going away! Now that I mention that, I wonder if the empty bench should disappear too. Hmm.... no, that stays. I like it. It balances the clock and connects to the guy standing next to it.