I love the night-time reflections in the road when it is raining. I have enjoyed trying to paint those kinds of scenes. On some rainy nights I grab my camera and tripod so I can capture the beautiful colors in the wet roads.
![slippery-noodle[1].jpg](/wp-content/uploads/image/slippery-noodle[1].jpg)
On one night I drove to downtown Indianapolis. I was especially excited when I saw the Slippery Noodle. It is the oldest bar in the city. There were reflections from all the neon signs as well as the lights from inside. The taillights and headlights of the passing cars made great reflections as well.
I set up my tripod and started shooting. Soon, someone came running out with a plastic bag. They saw me out there and wanted me to put it over my camera so it wouldn’t get wet.
When I painted this, I looked for shapes of different colors. I saw chunks of white, pink, blue and green in the road area. I put them in. Then I looked at the buildings. I followed the same technique – I drew in the shapes of the different colors and values, then painted them in individually. I didn’t blend the colors together, but kept them separate. It all came together like pieces in a puzzle. By the way, I didn’t use the plastic bag. I dried my camera off with a towel in the car.
Comments on Slippery Noodle
I think these reflection paintings are probably your trademark, and I love them. You have several trademarks actually, but you are definitely an expert on painting reflections, especially on rainy nights.
I find painting reflections very interesting. It is an exercise that requires a person to be able to disassociate what they think they see from what is actually present. I’m sure it takes practice to stop our minds from reading something into a scene that is not there, but what we have learned from experience to see.
Hi Tom, as a former hobby painter, I find it very interesting when you explain your way of looking at subjects and of how you then paint what you see. I think it makes for very beautiful and interesting paintings.
Thank you for them and your comments about them.
Tom, your painting makes me want to grab my umbrella! This reminds me of the many seaside towns I have visited. A certain charm dots the landscape, especially when it rains.
My gosh, I’m going to drown in this!