Morning, Washington Square Park

Morning, Washington Square Park, 20x16 oil on gesso board

If you read my earlier entry when I uploaded the not quite finished version of this painting then you know that I was working on this during both an earthquake and a hurricane!  I will always remember this one.  I will also remember it because of the good feelings of being back in NYC, my second most favorite city.  Washington DC has my heart. Whatever else might come to mind when you think of DC you should also know it is a place of great beauty.  Beauty might not be the word that comes to mind when you think of NY either but it is definitely there.  I have a couple of more NY paintings in mind and I just wish I could be there to paint them on site.
      I tried to complete this in one session but was unable to and picked it up again the day Irene arrived.  I needed to keep it fresh and not overwork it so I kept trying to tap into how I feel and how I work when I am painting plein air. Because of all my plein air work I am finding I have a preference for working on panels rather than canvas.  I like the surface.  You can expect to see more of them from the studio this year.  I took the painting out of the closet today (remember my entry on "Closet Finished") and decided I was happy with it and just put a few more strokes of a lighter yellow on the part of the bench in the foreground.  It's done and ready to be signed and framed. I hope you like it!  http://www.jeanschwartzpaintings.com/