City Of Light

 This is another painting potentially going to IX next month although due to the recent operation I am fretting whether I will be fully recovered by then to make it. I have to decide in the next few days and I'm really not sure at the moment. My framer is waiting for a decision as she needs to start framing them by early next week and is pushed for time as she has another big show to frame up for another artist. I need to let the organisers of IX know very soon as I don't want to let them down so they have to make last minute changes to spaces etc. Also I have arranged to stay with friends in Maryland before IX starts so I need to give them as much notice as possible.

I decided to paint "City Of Light" with the moonlit sky as the previous paintings with this kind of sky sold soon after I painted them so I needed another for the show and as the look seems popular it made sense to paint another for a possible sale. I think I'm doing too many Orientalist paintings but as they seem to sell I guess I need to do more!... but I will need more variety for the show itself.... the next one might be figurative (!). I wanted "City Of Light" to be soft and mysterious but I have discovered that it is difficult to achieve with complicated shapes so "City Of Light" developed in it's own way and I will try the softness on the next one. It is loosely based on a Midjourney piece shown at the end of this post.

The composition is a bit unusual for me in that the main elements of the picture are in a vertical line a third way in from the left (The Rule Of Thirds), I would usually spread these elements around but this time the composition hangs off this line.

Oil on linen 22" x 16"

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

Midjourney