Two Umbrellas Passing, Times Square ~ Potomac Artworks

11.17.2014

Two Umbrellas Passing, Times Square

Sometimes when you're stuck in Times Square in a surprise deluge, harboring beneath construction platforms with the crowds, the liveliness of the night, water, and reflections provide great material for a camera hungry for color.

With many of the sidewalks cleared, only the wise carrying umbrellas ventured into the street, passing each other, not aware they would be memorialized by photo and pastel.

Two Umbrellas Passing, Times Square
soft pastel
9x12

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The Charm of en Plein Air

Much of my work is done en plein air, French for "in the open air." People often associate it with the Impressionists, but the move to paint outside preceded them by a number of decades. The trend to appreciate landscapes as a genre at all was new for the time.

Several characteristics contribute to the distinctive beauty of en plein air painting. They are generally smaller in size in order to be able to capture a scene in a single sitting. Because of the time limit and environmental factors such as the sun and shadows moving, they often lack extensive details and might appear slightly fuzzy or unfinished. Lastly, they tend to have a freshness and spontaneity which makes them impossible to compare to traditional and methodological studio work. That said, my own studio work tends toward the same feel as en plein air, which then identifies my overall style: softness with an edge.

My aim when painting en plein air is for alla prima paintings, which roughly translates for me as "what happens outside, stays outside." It adds another level of difficulty to the work.

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11.17.2014