Cooped up too long or .... working from photographs

I've reached my limit. I've grown weary of working from photographs. There is so much more color in the three-dimensional world lit by the light of the sun, and even the illumination from a light bulb. Photographs are so dreary compared with the richness of reflected light rays.

Bricks and mortar are a delightful change from sky, trees and road. The only green I am mixing is a grayed-green for the mortar. I find that working over the umber/white underpainting is not nearly as entertaining as working over a complementary underpainting. For the third architectural piece in the exhibit, the interior of Gaudi's Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, I have painted the underpainting in yellow-oranges and violet-blues. I'm not sure it will be completed in time to be hung, but I'm not going to rush it. The underpainting is a bit thicker and will need a longer period of time to dry thoroughly before glazing.

There is no fast track to the point of exhaustion when working on a series of paintings such as the Road Series "Between Here and There". It is only at the point of exhaustion, the point where I find myself painting by rote, not exploring and solving problems, that I break through the barrier of painting the way I think it should be painted and enter the marvelous world of new habits, fresher color and unique vision. The new habits and the fresh approach will be carried to the next series of paintings "The Clothesline".

During the war in Vietnam, comedian Dick Gregory gave up eating solid food. The war lasted far longer than expected and Gregory lost an enormous amount of weight and became extremely fit. When the war finally came to an end, he vowed that the next time he protested by way of his dietary habits he would camp out next to a fruit and vegetable stand and eat constantly for the duration of the protest. For my next series, "The Clothesline" I vow to paint outdoors each and every day and to use sketches and color studies rather than photographs! I have never liked working from photographs and painting from them over the past several months has not altered my attitude.

Painting from life does not necessarily mean that painting out of habit doesn't happen. Naturally, it does. The difference is that the light is constantly changing, shadows moving, leaves rustling and branches swaying. Nothing is truly fixed. The way I mix my colors may become rote if I'm not careful, but there is a tendency to be more inventive. The colors that I see before me will always be like a fresh turn of a kaleidoscope, never quite the same, in the same combinations, as I've seen before.

Image: Cellar ceiling of the Palau Guell in Barcelona, Spain. Designed by Gaudi
Link to other architectural paintings from this series