Sunday, June 17, 2012

Visiting Northern England: Village/City Scape #2

Sometimes I have to stop and ask myself, "What is it about this scene that intrigues me? Why do I want to paint it?" If I am not strongly inspired to paint something, my enthusiasm will usually wane and then it is hard to keep going.  I have always been attracted to flower shops so that was a big part of it. I love all the color. Plus, this florist shop was established in 1903, so the building is old and full of character.
If you look at the lines of this composition, they are fairly simple; getting an accurate perspective was my first challenge

The repetition of the three awnings and windows is nice and once I painted the awnings blue they became more interesting. Along with a paint brush I began applying paint with a palette knife so that I had lots of paint to play with. The white lettering of the signs seemed necessary but I tried to downplay them a bit.

Once I added the interior colors in the windows I knew instantly that all those shapes and swirls of color were what attracted me to this project.  This little 10x8" canvas seemed very big to me now. There was so much detail to paint!

Wards the Florist
10x8", Oil on canvas
Rita Salazar Dickerson
This attractive florist shop, Wards the Florist, is in York, a beautiful, ancient city full of history and well known for the York Minster, an amazing, large cathedral that is worth visiting.

2 comments:

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    1. Thanks, June! I'm glad you like it! Painting streets and buildings is a good challenge for me. I'm learning a lot.

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