Workshop33; Davis Street, Culpeper, VA

Davis Street, o/c 11x14
The downtown section of a nearby small town is undergoing a revitalization. I was attracted to the colors on the building and wanted to give myself an exercise in mixing colors. (I quickly found myself saying, 'WHATEVER WERE YOU THINKING, JENKINS?!" Anyway, I fee the "Back 40' needs something, but what? Another car? People? Ditto for the front lower right quadrant. I darkened it and added some abstract paint strokes for interest and to move the eye back towards the buildings, but don't feel it's enough. What do you all think? I'd be interested to hear your comments!

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Comment by Betsy Jenkins on July 2, 2014 at 14:36: OK. Got it! Don't worry about it. Enjoy your vacation, where ever you are. If you come to Virginia, get ready to sweat! We have "air you can wear" right now! Pant, pant....

Comment by Michael J. Severin on July 2, 2014 at 14:11: Hi Betsy. The distant buildings were painted accurately. ...but they presented a compositional problem. I will explain more when I return home..it takes too long to type all this on my tablet.

Comment by Betsy Jenkins on July 2, 2014 at 9:20: I wanted to mention that the reason the colors get paler and are rendered with fewer details is because I was thinking that things should get less detailed with an increase in distance. But several people both on and off this board didn't like the rendering of the farther buildings. I grayed those colors down a bit too. I feel a little confused about when I should employ that technique in the future. Any advice out there?
Also, I thought that I tried to soften the edges of the buildings as they moved back. I continue to have problems with knowing when to soften an edge and when to render it more distinct. My problem with edges stems, I think, from my fear of losing the drawing. A good underlying drawing can cover a multitude of other artistic sins, though definitely not all. Anybody got some suggestions or suggested readings, perhaps? I can't seem to shake the bad hard edge habit.

Comment by Betsy Jenkins on July 2, 2014 at 9:00: Wow, Michael, Thanks so much. I have spent a lot of time looking at it and tried to come up with solutions to the problems I have seen. I regretted not moving the bottom of the buildings down closer to the bottom of the canvas. I thought about putting a person crossing the street on the crosswalk, just past the red car. I figured that would "stop" the eye by covrring the back buildings substantially, while still giving the illusion of depth with more street behind. But then I didn't know what to do with the gap in the street. So I thought of putting a dog there about midway to the crosswalk. Putting a person in the lower right hand corner would overtake the painting, because of perspective. So, once again your eye is King. I just need to redo the damn thing and start from scratch. I just wish i hadn't wasted a stretched canvas. Could have saved a few bucks by practicing on some cheaper support. Oh well, live and LEARN! Thanks again for your generous help. It's Much Appreciated!

Comment by Michael J. Severin on July 2, 2014 at 3:22: Hi Betsy. You have stated that your concept is color ..and you have achieved that goal. Your colors are bold and clean. The problem with the "back 40" is that compositionally, you do not need it. The long string of buildings is taking us from your main idea ..those colorful buildings and cars. Also, the large amount of sky and street is in danger of taking you away from your subject and becoming a sky and street painting. We need to stay focused on your original concept ..color ..all of your interesting color, shapes, contrasts, and drawing is on the first 2 or 3 buildings. I would suggest that your crop the painting somewhere near the red car. Crop off a chunk of sky and street. This will bring the focus of your painting to the buildings and there wonderful shadow patterns and color. Then, gradate the road from a little darker value on the left ..gradually getting lighter as we look down the street. Maybe a person standing near the blue car would create even more interest to your focal point.

Comment by Betsy Jenkins on June 26, 2014 at 23:27: Thanks, Steinunn and Marianne! I'm on the road right now, but will get a figure or two in there when I get back. Thanks for taking the time to look and comment!

Comment by Steinunn Einarsdottir on June 26, 2014 at 22:18: Very well rendered Betsy, great job.

Comment by Marianne Rodwell on June 26, 2014 at 18:16: Agree it could use a figure so it doesn't look like a ghost town. Love the colours, this is a beautiful work!

Comment by Betsy Jenkins on June 26, 2014 at 7:47: Thanks Olivia. Will put some people in somewhere; I know that corner is bare. The photo looks great in my smartphone, but too dark on my computer. Cant figure out what is going on. I need a course in color management and cant find one.

P.S. LOVE your paintings! You have great talent. I feel happy and honored to hear you like my work.

Comment by Olivia O'Carra on June 26, 2014 at 7:33: Lovely painting Betsy. you have done a great job already adapting the photo .Your colours are great.

How about a figure in that lower right corner about to cross the road.