Music of the Night

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About fifteen years ago, I went with my wife, her parents, and my mother on a trip to Britain to visit the homes of our ancestors. While we were in London, we wanted to see “The Phantom of the Opera.” It was in the fabulous Her Majesty’s Theater. What a gorgeous building! The show was the most fantastic thing I’ve ever seen. I was so overwhelmed by it!! When we walked outside afterwards, I was so moved by everything and I thought the city at night was absolutely beautiful. I loved the colors of the buildings with the spotlights on them.

Ever since then I’ve been thrilled by nighttime scenes. This one is from my home town Indianapolis, Indiana. I’ve created the feeling of the glow by having the light go upward instead of it coming from above, like during the day. I’ve spent a lot of time concentrating on the actual nighttime colors and have used them. They are actually different than what I thought they were. I have included three cars and six people to give some interest to the painting.

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Sold

3

This painting, “North Main Street,” was recently purchased. I am always happy to see my work go to a good home. The new owner feels a connection to it because she teaches in the high school in that same community and it brings back good memories to her.

All of the paintings on my blog are for sale unless otherwise noted. If anyone is interested in purchasing one of them, or in commissioning a painting, please contact me.

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Mary and Elisabeth

13

Last year I had a terrifying, horrible experience with my forty-day hospital stay. It couldn’t have been real – it should have been a science fiction or horror movie – but it was indeed real. I was on life support for nineteen days. It was really a miracle I lived.

Since I survived that ordeal, I have felt I should show my thanks to God. To do this, I will be painting, from time to time, scenes from the life of Jesus Christ. The first one is of Mary and Elisabeth. (See Luke 1:5-60) Elizabeth conceives in her old age. Mary conceived when the Holy Ghost came upon her “and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee.”

Elisabeth was Mary’s cousin. Mary went to visit Elisabeth. When Elisabeth saw Mary, her baby leaped in her womb. Her child would be John the Baptist. Elisabeth and her unborn child were excited because Mary was carrying the Son of God.

I have tried to portray this moment in my painting.

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Procession

6

I did this painting in 1999 and it shows the Indiana State Capitol building. It has three-point perspective with two vanishing points. If you look at the corner of the closest building, finding its top point, you can imagine a line going rightward to the top of the next section and then off the page. Now look at the vehicle on the right, imagine a line following the shadow on the road behind it and think of it also as going off the page. Where it intersects with the top line is the right side vanishing point.

You also can go to the left from the top corner of the closest corner and imagine the line going to the top of the section on the left of the dome, and off of the page. Also on the left side, imagine a line from the road stripes on the left side of the painting that intersects with the line from the top. This will be the vanishing point on the left. This is called linear perspective and it gives dimension to the painting.

The cars on the left are smaller than the ones on the right. This is atmospheric perspective. It gives the illusion that the smaller cars are further down the road than the larger one.

Also, there is a yellow highlight on the right side of the capitol dome and blue shadows on the left side of the cars, giving the illusion that the sun is shining from the right to left of the painting.

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Winter Morning

16

Along the National Highway in Indiana is the small town of Greenfield. The famous poet, James Whitcomb Riley, grew up here. His home is on this road. If you go around the block you will find the back of his property.

This painting shows a winter scene. It is dramatic because it has the fence and trees back lit. The fence is larger at the left and gets smaller as it goes to the right. This is linear perspective. The trees and fence are larger than the buildings in the background. This is a technique of atmospheric perspective. It gives a feeling of depth as the painting is viewed.

The sun shines brightly on the snow and the cast shadows are blue, reflecting the color of the sky. I have tried to portray the frigid, cold air.

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Three Quarter View

12

Some portraits are done with the subject looking straight at you.  Others just show a profile.  A three quarter view is something in-between.  That is what this one is.  The subject is looking sideways but still both eyes can be seen.

This is my wife, Norene.  She was watching television.  I felt like doing a quick painting of her.  I didn’t want it to look like a photograph.  I could do that with a camera.  Instead, I wanted to put feeling into it, much like a musician does when they play their instrument.  I just let my brush flow.  I didn’t worry too much about colors, but instead, was random.  The finished product is an expression of emotion as I saw my wife.  I am happy with it.  That’s all that matters.

You will notice that her face is on the left side of the canvas with the right side being empty.  Imagine the edges of the canvas being a doorway.  She would be leaning against the left side with the right side being open.  If her head were further to the right, it would appear that she was going to run into the other side.

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North Main Street

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This is a painting of North Main Street on the courthouse square in Martinsville, Indiana. Note the combination of both organic and geometric shapes – the tree is organic and the buildings are geometric. The tree frames the buildings. Their contrast makes the picture pleasing to the eye. I have also used atmospheric and linear perspective; atmospheric because some items are larger than others, and linear because the sidewalk is wider at the bottom of the painting than at the top. Both of these types of perspective give the appearance of depth.

I have used complementary colors. Orange is the complement of blue. This gives a visually exciting feeling. Look at the blue building next to the orange one. I have always been  more interested in painting buildings with a few trees than a whole painting of a field or forest. The use of cars or people add interest to the picture.

When I start a painting like this, I don’t think about doing trees, buildings, or cars. Instead, I look for shapes, then draw them in. After the shapes are on the canvas, I fill them with the actual color or values of colors until the painting is finished.

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