The Campus Theatre

Oil on canvas 11"x15"

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Comment by Stuart J. Gourlay on December 3, 2011 at 17:08: Jane, I used to watch all Frank Clarke's videos and recorded a bunch of them on tape. I start out the same with my figures that way too. I told Nancy to just start painting figures and they will get better and better and make her street scenes more interesting. I frequently paint on canvas from pads and mount the canvas on hard board or 1/4' birch plywood with acrylic soft body gel from Golden. You just put it on with a large spatula, even it out and put the canvas on the board. I then put some wax paper on it and brayer it from center to sides to get out the excess gel. I then clamp it to another panel with small plastic clamps at corners and along the edges and put several books under it and a bunch on it for a few hours. The advantage of painting thin is that your paint dries quickly and you won't harm what little texture you have. I will mount the canvas after painting if I like it or just pile it up with others if I don't. If I paint on a loose canvas, I just mount it to one of the cardboard backs that comes with the canvas sheets with double stick tape. Works for me. Interesting. Stu

Comment by Jane Albin on December 3, 2011 at 12:43: Thanks Nancy, This is actually the first oil painting that I did that I really liked. I did it on a sheet of canvas pad. I think I was less worried about messing it up because it was like painting on textured paper.

Whenever I work on figures, I remind myself that they are "carrots with heads". They can be two-toned or three-toned, short, tall or fat carrots with heads. I picked this up from the "Simply Painting" videos by Frank Clarke. He teaches the 'people are carrots' lesson. He does very simple pictures in watercolor. So try some people and let me know how it goes. Jane

Comment by Nancy Sands on December 1, 2011 at 20:52: I am crazy about this painting, Jane. You have really captured the frigid damp atmosphere. I have not tried a street scene and am a bit intimidated by it. You did such a great job with the figures.

Comment by Jane Albin on November 12, 2011 at 5:00: Why thank you Mervyn The town around this theater is like a made-for-tv movie.

Stu, I agree about how people are attracted to different subjects. In the weekly oil painting class I attend, I seem to pick the 'odd' subject. My classmate Peggy says, "I don't see how you see what you do. You pick subjects that don't make sense to me until they are started." Luckily our instructor gets it. His name is Robert Hughes and he paints primarily en plein air. Neither of my children are into art either. My son wants to be a wildlife biologist and my daughter is studying literature. She does dabble in photography and writing. I'll have to wait a while for grandkids.(How old are your grandkids? My best friend is a children's book illustrator.) My mother taught jr.high art; she could teach anyone how to draw. She was always saying, "If you can write your name you can learn to draw." I have only done plein air a few times. I like having my creature comforts, and not chasing the light and moving the shadows. Jane

Comment by Mervyn Beamish on November 10, 2011 at 21:59: This has wondeful eye movement - make you want to delve right in and explore - delve into the paintings story - love this type of work.

Comment by Stuart J. Gourlay on November 10, 2011 at 4:02: Jane, strange how our visual cortex works and what attracts us to things we see that we like. I see that we share the same passion for painting things that we experience everyday; it kind of makes them special. Does your son paint or do some kind of art? My son and daughter never were artistic at all, but my grandkids are. So, I have a lot of fun with them. Please put up some of your building paintings or reference a web site; I'd like to see them. My Smitty's painting sold, so one of these days I'll paint something like it again from my photo references. I paint outdoors, and have done a few street scenes outdoors; my plein air painting is in a very nascent stage; I really struggle at it more than I think I should. Stu

Comment by Jane Albin on November 9, 2011 at 17:00: Stu, I just looked up Tim Horn and recognized one of his paintings. I saw "On The Line" at the Dana Gallery in Missoula, MT last summer. (My son is at U.MT.)

I have to admit that I am drawn to similar subjects and angles. I like how spare his paintings are. He gets great light in the simplest layout.

Oh, Lewisburg has only about 5000 people in the borough. Luckily there is a main street with independent shops, (and rarely empty storefronts). It is also the county seat. We are "centrally isolated" or 3 hours from NYC, Philly, DC or Baltimore. We don't have a lot of 'great' buildings. I will have to put up some of my works of the area. I really like your street scenes, especially the chalk painters and Smitty's. Jane

Comment by Stuart J. Gourlay on November 9, 2011 at 15:33: Jane, I don't know how big Lewisburg is, but San Rafael is about 50,000 and is the county seat and the only real downtown in Marin County (about 250 -300 thousand). Fourth Street was the setting for American Grafitti (George Lucas lives in Marin, but in San Anselmo), and many of the buildings date back to the 1880s and 1890s when San Rafael was the largest town and the main commercial center for the "Redwood Empire" where all the trees were cut for logging among the coast north of San Francisco and shipped by rail down the coast. Wood and bricks from here rebuilt San Francisco after the big earth quake and fire in 1907. So there are a lot of neat old buildings, and I really get a kick out of painting them. Strangely with so many artists in Marin County and the Bay Area, not that many people paint "cityscapes" and urban scenes like this except in the big city, San Francisco. If you want to see some really cool work from Marin go to Tim Horn's website www.horndesign.com; he paints old cars, old buildings, ranch scenes--you name it, he can paint it. I took a couple of workshops from him several years ago; he's an excellent teacher and a really hot outdoor painter. If you take some good pictures of your theater, paint it and post it. Thanks, Stu

Comment by Jane Albin on November 9, 2011 at 14:58: Stu, I also take too many pictures from my car. I love your painting "Fourth and A Streets-Sunset". It looks a lot like the corner of Fourth and Market Street here in Lewisburg. My Campus theater is across the street from the theater in your painting, but we have a Starbucks in a building like yours and in the same location. (I will have to take a picture and post it for you.) I'll try for sunset. ;)

Comment by Stuart J. Gourlay on November 9, 2011 at 14:26: Jane, my photo references for two of my posted paintings were shot out of the windshield of my car when I was at a stop light: "Rainy Day" and "Fourth and A Streets-Sunset". Having a point and shoot camera with you a lot of the time allows you to recreate that special moment. I'm looking forward to your next theater painting. Thanks for the added information; I'm going to keep shooting pictures from my car. Stu