May 19, 2009

Simplify

As I was painting this lockhouse on the C&O canal (the canal is at my back), my first impression of the site was quickly overwhelmed by an interest in the textures of the lockhouse stones, the rough tree bark, the long grasses in front of the building.  Those textures, though, exist largely in my memory, and aren't what I'm actually able to see.  

I'm still caught between simplifying the image and getting caught up in bits of light or details.  The details, though, are the opposite of the experience.  I need to make the heaviness of the lockhouse a stronger element and see where that takes me.  More on this to come.

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