Rainy Days

There is something about wet streets that fascinates me. This painting was part of a show last year in which I had several rainy day paintings. All of them sold, including this one. I guess that tells you what people like.

The one thing that rainy day painting taught me is to be observant as a neutral observer. Rain slicked streets and objects are patchworks of color. Sure there is a logic to the reflections, but you can only paint it accurately if you can stop the part of your mind that says, "this is a car," and you then put in your symbol for a car. Think of what you see as a collection of marks on a canvas that is your eye. It is not a car, it is a slab of grey over a bit of very dark blue with a hint of red in a grey box. Just put down the right color in the right place, and you will go a long way towards a serviceable image.

Sounds easy, right? Well, do as I've done and practice for 35 years and you can get pretty good at it. Or, you may be a natural. Let's hope so!

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