Saturday, November 20, 2010

November Farmland

November Farmland, Oil on Panel, 11x14

I don't think I've ever composed a painting where the road leaves the scene completely off to one side of the canvas. Possibly a design faux pas, but it doesn't bother me. After finishing this one and thinking about the composition, I decided to do a small piece (below) that is basically a crop of the larger one above.

November Farmhouse, Oil on Panel, 4x6

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Main Street Shops

Main Street Shops, Oil on Panel, 9x12
(Lynchburg, Virginia)

My tendency is to avoid difficult subjects for fear that several hours of work will just turn into a frustrating exercise in failure. But of course it is important to challenge yourself and work outside your comfort zone, and I'm glad I did so with this scene. I feel the result is one of my best cityscapes. Even when a challenge doesn't go well, it's still a good learning experience, so I hope to take on difficult scenes more often.