Sarge's in Oil

While casein is an alluring mistress, I remain married to oil paint as a primary medium. And as mentioned a few posts back, cities and the endless variety of the streets and buildings is one of the most interesting subjects I've found. Cities are like people in some ways--they have different personalities, different sizes and shapes, and very different appearances. You would almost never mistake a Paris street for a street in New York.

"Sarge's," oil on panel, 20x16

There are painters whose works are intended to remind the viewer of specific cities, especially when the city depicted is frequented by visitors who might want a souvenir. But on the other hand, the picture may not depend on the identity of the city nor on any perceived or stated narrative. Instead, despite being a more or less realistic representation, a painting might be more about shape, color, value, and interplay than about love, death, or taxes.

That's the case with "Sarge's," a new oil I finished a few weeks ago. It's a city street, possibly in early spring or perhaps in fall, but there's no identifiable city. The sign for the bar was based on an actual sign in another place, modified for this piece. It was interesting to attempt to show depth in a short depth of field, and it was doubly interesting to contrast value, color and shapes. This is 20x16 on panel, and will be showing with other new works in about two weeks here in Des Moines at ArtFest Midwest.
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Related posts:
Cityscapes
Cityscapes Redux
Cityscapes (4-1-2016)