Highways, Fort Worth, Texas, USA

While searching for beautiful landscapes to paint in forth Worth, I instead came across this scene. Although the scene is a little ugly...the elevated highways, the sidewalks, the shapeless buildings, it still has a character to it that is undeniable. The passing cars and noisy highway gave it a hustle-bustle feel. I did like the composition too, the crossing highways make a nice complement to the vertical buildings. This painting has a fresh and energetic feeling to it, a sort of spontaneity that can come with watercolours and not so much in other media like oil or acrylic. Examine the edge of the buildings and you see lots of rough jagged parts that look unfinished, and in the sidewalk the paint bleeds out into the blue shadow. The car, lamp posts, and other elements were painted in a quick and easy fashion. All around the edge of the painting you see gaps and choppy lines. And despite this slopiness the painting still looks pleasing....why? Partly because the sloppiness gives a sort of energy to the work, and also reminds the viewer that they are looking at a painting...the product of a painter....and not a photograph. In that respect the energy of the brush strokes tells the viewer something about the energy of the painter (which should come from the painters surroundings). Thus, you should paint energetic scenes with energetic brushstrokes, and calm scenes with calmer, more careful brush strokes. 5x7" cold press, 2008