Street Sweeper

Saw this elderly man sweeping the street - he seemed to be an intrinsic part of the scene, he blended in so well. Wasn't sure whether to include the curve of the street, but decided it was more interesting like this - any opinions?? And - I altered the graffiti, as I had no idea what it meant (so now it's nonsense, I hope!)

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Comment by Jessica Futerman on October 15, 2013 at 3:12: Thanks Michael - off to work on it now - nothing ventured, nothing gained!

Comment by Michael J. Severin on October 15, 2013 at 2:37: Hi Jessica, BTW ....your drawing of the figure is right on!!!

Comment by Jessica Futerman on October 14, 2013 at 17:52: Thanks very much for the ideas, Michael. The man was actually on the shady side of the street & there were no cast shadows - I am sure adding them would create more drama & spotlight the figure as you suggest. I guess I have made him blend into his surroundings too much, though I did like the way that happened in real life! Will attempt to make the background more abstract as you suggest - there is definitely something not pleasing in the composition as it is.

Comment by Michael J. Severin on October 14, 2013 at 0:36: Hi Jessica. You really tackled a difficult subject in terms of compositional design!! ....One question, where is your light source coming from? Your painting is about the man sweeping, and you have brought us in close to the figure .so everything else could be painted very loosely ...abstract shapes of light and shadow, lost edges, more contrasts, etc. In other words, obscure all the drawing around the figure, put the curved corner into a cast shadow, paint interesting impasto texture on the wall, ....make everything else essentially a backdrop to the man. brighten the man's shirt with strong sunlight and indicate some form with well placed shadows (on the shirt). Use every means at your disposal to make the figure the central point. ..but first, you need a strong indication of where your light source is coming from. Think about improving your design with shapes and stay away from linear thinking on this one.

Comment by Jessica Futerman on October 13, 2013 at 18:37: Thanks very much Silvana for your kind comments! It's a tricky composition - I tried cropping the photo & taking out the curve to see if it was better without it & in the end I decided to leave it & took out a pink stripe that was lining the pavement which drew too much attention. Maybe you're right that I should make it a lighter value around the corner. Or maybe I should just straighten out the road!!

Comment by Silvana M Albano on October 13, 2013 at 13:51: Jessica, this is absolutely wonderful! Specially the man and the clothes. The graffiti are great! About the curve, there is sth that bugs me... but I can't say exactly what... perhaps the value is very similar before and after it?