The City Awakes - stage 3

 First colour pass on the sky and background buildings at left, stopped at this point as I need to have a think about how things are going to fit together which will no doubt happen tomorrow over my breakfast coffee. Basing it on a blue/green - orange/pink kind of colour complementary although I have started to warm it up a bit in places with some Naples Yellow.

New colours used: Naples Yellow, Lead Tin Yellow Lemon, Manganese Violet and Warm White.

The City Awakes - stage 2

 I mixed up a transparent desaturated blue wash and applied it with a rag and flat brushes on top of the initial underpainting leaving the underpainting showing through in the area of the sunburst and where the light hits the buildings.

Colours used: Phthalocyanine Blue, Phthalocyanine Green and Quinacridone Red.

The City Awakes - stage 1

 Although intent on leaving this series for a while "The City Awakes" came to mind as the obvious next picture to paint and I thought that it would be a nice coda to the current tranche in "The Sleeping City" series. I'm debating about how many (or none) cars and people to put on the road. The fact that there are quite a few lights on in windows may or may not be enough to get the idea across - I guess these decisions will be made over future breakfast coffees.

This is the initial tonal underpainting stage using my usual mix of Burnt Sienna and Dioxazine Purple thinned with Liquin and applied with a rag and flat brush.

Oil on linen 22" x 16".

Midnight Mahal sold

 A painting from my "Midnight" series from a few years ago has just sold to a buyer in Alabama who had seen my work on an Edward Hopper Facebook group post (it was a good idea to join in fact two Edward Hopper Facebook groups as they have many members who see my work) although of course this particular painting has nothing to do with Hopper!

Oil on linen 24" x 18"

All Nite

 This is probably the last for a while in "The Sleeping City" series although I do have an idea for one more called "The City Awakes"....

As expected I became sick of painting windows but there was no way of avoiding them if I was to get the idea across. I had tried to do this idea before but couldn't come up with a satisfactory composition until this point; I liked the idea of a solitary all night bar with it's lights in the middle of a deserted street in a sleeping city. I have added to the Edward Hopper in Gotham City feel a touch of Surrealism as I have made the city streets unnaturally deserted and dark (in a normal city there would be street lights on for instance at least) around the welcoming lights of the bar.

Based on a yellow/violet colour complementary, the tricky bit was lighting it so that it was dark but a lot can still be seen of the buildings etc. This with all the windows made this painting quite slow going...

Oil on fine cotton 16" x 12".

There is a step-by-step progress through this painting in previous posts on this blog.

All Nite - stage 4

 Still chipping away at this one, I am gradually working my way towards the all night bar and have finished most of the other buildings. I have also blocked in some colour onto the road and have left it there as I need to look at it tomorrow morning and decide on how dark/light the road will be and what colours to use too.

All Nite - stage 3

 This is slow going... windows. I reckon I'm going to be sick of them by the time it's finished so maybe a change of series theme is indeed called for. I'm feeling my way along with this one, the lighting is tricky and I need to break up the big shapes of buildings more.

New colours used: Bright Green Lake and Warm White.

All Nite - stage 2

 I gave most of it a transparent wash of desaturated blue just leaving the underpainting showing through on the area where the all night bar is going. I also chose two windows to have lights on...

Colours used: Indanthrene Blue. Dioxazine Purple, Burnt Sienna and Permanent Orange.

All Nite - stage 1

 I have tried this idea a number of times but couldn't get the right composition for it until now so here goes.... I think this might be the last for the moment in my "The Sleeping City" series but I will definitely return to it, I just feel it is time to do a different theme for a while as I don't want to repeat myself.

I suspect that I am going to be sick of painting windows after this one so maybe it is a good time to move on although I do have some ideas for a different series of city nocturnes so we shall see. I like the idea of a solitary all night bar in the middle of a dark and deserted city although I might have a light in a window somewhere.... The city will be a bit surreal and dreamlike as it will be unnaturally deserted and dark with the architecture a bit 1950s Gotham City in style.

This is the initial tonal underpainting stage using my usual mix of Burnt Sienna and Dioxazine Purple thinned with Liquin and applied with a rag and flat brush.

Oil on fine cotton 16" x 12".

Shortcut

 You could shave ten minutes off your journey downtown if you leave the main road and go up this shortcut.... perhaps not.

The sixth in my "The Sleeping City" series this one is another about the contrast between the down at heel poor neighborhood and the glitzy Downtown, still kind of Edward Hopper in Gotham City. Maybe too many in this series are too downbeat so the next one might be a bit less so... I wanted to do a painting that featured pools of light with the usual imposing monolithic Gotham City-like buildings in the distance. I want all my paintings to look like paintings and not photographic in style even though I am working in a Realist manner I try to suggest detail through scuffy marks etc as opposed to doggedly painting it all in and kill the atmosphere. That is the nearest I get to the current obsession with "mark making" in Contemporary Art... although in a way these are fantasy paintings as well... I tread a fine line between the two, whether I'm successful or not....

Oil on fine cotton 16" x 12".

There is a step-by-step progress through this painting in previous posts on this blog.

Shortcut - stage 3

 

Finished the sky and background (apart from the Moon) and made a start on most of the buildings. It's a bit softer than it appears here.

New colour used: Lead Tin Yellow Lemon

Shortcut - stage 2

 I first painted a transparent wash of desaturated blue/green over all the artwork but leaving the areas where the warm light will be. I then mixed up a desaturated  blue/green for the sky making sure to leave the moon and building signs the white of the canvas. I then blocked in some more opaque mixes over the buildings and roads.

Colours used so far: Phthalocyanine Blue, Phthalocyanine Green, Cobalt Teal, Ultramarine Violet, Dioxazine Purple, Burnt Sienna, Permanent Orange, Neutral Grey 5, Zinc White and Warm White.

Shortcut - stage 1

 Hmmmm... you could shave off ten minutes off your journey to get downtown if you go up that street off the main road.... perhaps not.

The next in my "The Sleeping City" series this is another about the contrast between the foreground poor neighborhood and the glitzy downtown in the distance. I enjoy painting run down abandoned buildings and potholed roads, much more interesting than pristine surfaces! Probably going to base it on a desaturated green/blue - red/orange colour complementary but with more yellow but I might change my mind over tomorrow's breakfast coffee. First it will get a wash of desaturated transparent green/blue which will be the first thing I do tomorrow.

This is the initial tonal underpainting stage using a mix of Burnt Sienna and Dioxazine Purple thinned with Liquin and applied with a rag and brush.

Oil on fine cotton 16" x 12".

Steeltown

 The next in my "The Sleeping City" series, this one reminds me of when I lived in London in the 1970s when I couldn't afford a taxi and would walk home from a friends house late at night for an hour and a half (Forest Hill to Mitcham) through the streets of South London. There would be some bits through very deserted and unwelcoming areas like this (not so industrial) when my pace would quicken (and my heart) to pass through as quickly as possible.....

I wanted to contrast the light and colour between the blue moonlight and the warmer light on the building and tried to keep a nice design with two the lights in vertical strips in a Rule Of Thirds placing on the canvas. The painting is based on a desaturated blue/green - red/orange colour complementary.

I have worked out that this series could be described as Edward Hopper in Gotham City....

Oil on linen 22" x 16".

There is a step-by-step progress through this painting in previous posts on this blog.

Steeltown - stage 2

 I first gave most of the painting a wash of transparent desaturated blue/green thinned with Liquin and applied with a rag but leaving the areas where the warm light reflections are to go. Later on in the afternoon when the sky was dry I painted in the first colour pass so that it will be ready to work on tomorrow.

Colours used: Phthalocyanine Blue, Phthalocyanine Green, Dioxazine Purple, Pale Violet, Neutral Grey No 5, Burnt Sienna, Permanent Orange and Zinc White.

Steeltown - stage 1

 

The next in my "The Sleeping City" series of paintings this one will show the contrast between the grubby industrial foreground and the sparking lights of the downtown city. Toying with the idea of a lone figure but I think I will keep it totally deserted. I'm going to give most of it a transparent blue wash first tomorrow and then start blocking in some opaque color. I felt that this painting would benefit from a larger format and hope to have some fun painting all the wet reflections in the foreground road.

This is the tonal underpainting stage using my usual mix of Burnt Sienna and Dioxazine Purple thinned with Liquin and applied with a rag and brush.

Oil on linen 22" x 16".