Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Finished WIP from rooftop in Wilmington


High Atop the Port City- 24x30 SOLD

the sun finally came out today and as forecasted we had blue-bird skies and beautiful light and
temperatures. the perfect plein air day. so i went back on the parking deck to finish this monster 24x30 (see below for the block in and notice the changes). i really like how loose and "knifed" this looks with some super thick paint in places and sloppy edges in the peripheral areas. kept things close to the bridge a little tighter in places but not all the way across or it would cut the painting into almost a perfect third (a no-no)
so far this is the center piece painting for the New Elements show in late june. unless i do something i like even better between now and then! *)

Front and Market St. at 2:43 pm SOLD

After the 24x30 i went down on street level and banged this one out in about 2 hrs. on top of an old painting without even gessoeing over the old one first. thus the lack of my signature magenta underpainting peeking out in places. this was super fun, hardcore alla prima using knives, fingers, and my much beloved homemade "stubbies" (old stubs of brushes used to smear on small shapes where a knife blade is not advantageous. anything you can make a mark with becomes a tool in my world!

4 comments:

Frank Gardner said...

This one came together great Mike. I like the street scene a lot too.

mike rooney studios said...

thanks frank. i liked the street scene better than the big one. i paint better when i use smaller canvases. this coming from a guy the painted billboards early in my sign career! thanks. btw... loved your 'dusty road' painting on your blog!

Frank Gardner said...

so how big is the street scene. I mistakenly thought it was a 24x30 too, and that you were just going nuts.

I signed up for ed's plein air group today and saw that your name is on there. I'm just waiting for the secret handshake and then I'll be able to get in.

mike rooney studios said...

the street scene was 9x12 (my alltime favorite size)
and long as i do em big outside they stay loose, but whenever i get into the studio when i go big i lose that spontaniety. tell me your secret...