Untitled Document

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Painting on location:

I spend a lot of time wandering around the urban fringe of the NY metropolitan area. When I find a site that resonates with me, I do a quick pen & ink sketch in a small notebook using a uni- ball pen. These are rough sketches that help me narrow my vision down and focus on what is essential to the scene.

When a site interests me enough to do a large painting I will first do an oil sketch of the scene. Since a large painting can take me up to three months to paint, I want to be sure I have worked out any compositional issues before I commit myself to the long process of doing a large painting on site. I don't want to spend months on a painting and then wish I had added a couple of inches to one side of the image because the painting would be so much better if I had. Working out my ideas ahead of time allows me to be fairly sure of the direction the painting will take

For most of my studies, I work on 300 pound watercolor paper that I staple to a board and then apply a couple of coats of acrylic gesso to. This provides an archival ground for the oil paint. I then use masking tape to block out the shape I think the painting will take. I will use multiple strips of tape so that I can peel these away if I want to extend the composition in any directions. After the study is blocked in and worked on for a few days I usually have enough information to decide on the final dimensions for a large painting.

Typically I paint on site for 2-3 months to complete the larger version. Because of the changing light, I work on one painting in the morning and another one in the afternoon. I usually paint for about 3-4 hours at a stretch at each site. I try to paint most days that the weather permits including weekends. Sundays are my favorite day to paint outdoors. The urban places I frequent are much quieter on Sundays and there's tranquility to the city that is very appealing.

Although the majority of the painting is completed on site, I make a point of occasionally looking at the painting in the studio while I'm working on it. This allows me to adjust any values that might be off. The painting has to look as good indoors when it's finished as it does outdoors, so I find that adjusting values to indoor lighting is important. There is so much illumination outdoors, so there's a tendency to paint things too dark. I also like to do some adjustments indoors when a painting is almost completed. This might entail softening or sharpening up edges as well has adding bits of color in the transition area between the lights and shadows. When needed, I will use photos for things that don't stay still like cars.

Although my paintings are very detailed, in the end the painting must stand on its own regardless of the initial scene that inspired it. I am not beyond changing or moving things around if I feel it will make the painting better. My goal is not to copy everything exactly but instead to capture the essence of a particular place and time.