Lonely Street - stage 1

This is a painting influenced by the etchings of Edward, Hopper, Martin Lewis and Film Noir movies. I will just take one of my city paintings to Illuxcon which if it works out how I see it in my mind's eye will be this one. It's the wrong side of town, Low Rent I think it's called, and some guy in hat and overcoat is emerging from a subway station in a deserted part of the city, in the distance can be seen some Downtown buildings, modern with lights in windows, here nowhere is open apart from a dimly lit diner in the left of the picture. His looming shadow caused by the bright light emerging from the subway exit is cast against a red wall on the side of a building opposite, a meat packers now closed until early the next morning. A train moves along the Elevated Railway at top left. The subway entrance is based on Astor Plaza in New York but I have moved it to the Wrong Side Of Town. The first stage was to work out where things were going using a brush and thinned down paint, the second part was to apply a tonal wash with a rag - both stages used my usual combination of Burnt Sienna and Dioxazine Purple thinned with Liquin and turpentine.