Third session on 5th and Waverly

5th and Waverly, 20x16 oil on panel (still in progress)

I spent more time on 5th and Waverly again today but not as long as I would have liked.  I had plenty of busy work to get to today as show entries draw near.  But, back to the painting.....The good news is that I actually know where I am going with this so I don't feel as though I am floundering around when I get to work on it.  That helps when sessions are shorter than desired. Today I worked on some color adjustment and I know I need to do more there.  I don't like the yellow of the face of the building on the left.  I also have to adjust the values a bit.  When artists talk about values we are referring to light and dark.  For instance as objects receed in the distance they grow lighter, those in the foreground have darker shadows and stonger accents.  So, I need to either darken the shadows on the buildings in the foreground or lighten those in the distance.  I started indicating the presence of the parked cars along the curbs and some of the traffic coming down the Avenue.  At this point I really have to finish the buildings a little more and make some sense of what will be an open structure that sits atop that yellow faced building.  Right now it is out of sync with the perspective and just looks weird.  It should have a more delicate, open appearance than it has now.  That said, job #1 tomorrow will be covering the ochre underpainting showing through on the lower right corner.  It will help me balance things better if I bring this area up to the level of finish of the rest of the painting.  Right now it is just a distraction.  I may not be finishing this one quite as quickly as I thought which is O.K.  I do need to get a couple of others underway and I tend to prefer having more than one painting to work on at a time

      Other news.......I was pleasantly surprised today by an email from Sara Tanguy who is the State Department's Curator for Art in the Embassies.  In 2009 I had loaned two of my paintings to Ambassador and Mrs. Jeffries for the Ambassador's residence in Ankara Turkey.  They were a part of an exhibit there called "In Awe of Nature" and they were on view until last November.  Todays email requesed two more paintings for Ambassador and Mrs. Wohlers.  This time they will be going to Skopje, Macedonia and will be part of an exhibit at our embassy there! How wonderful! I am reminded of that line from "Forrest Gump", the one about life being like a box of chocolates:)  I'll post the paintings tomorrow or you can see them on my website http://www.jeanschwartzpaintings.com/  "Spring Rush" is on the Gallery I page and "Between the Sun and the Moon" is on the Gallery II page.