"NYC Street" Continues and Great Falls Sketch

After any disturbances of my regular painting and drawing routines, I have to retrain myself for a bit. One of the benefits of experience is knowing how to ease back in to more serious work. I grant myself a break ... knowing that my first painting session just won't go smoothly. On Saturday, I worked on a commission I'm doing ... all day ... only to wipe out most of that effort at the end of the day. That's okay.  It helped that I thought of the day as a warm-up ... I wasn't frustrated by "wasting" that time. It wasn't wasted because just painting put me in better shape for yesterday's painting and what I'll work on today. (And tomorrow.) Attitude matters.

Yesterday, I started the day sketching on a bench in the Great Falls Village Centre (Great Falls, Virginia ... near where my studio, the Artists' Atelier, is located). Eventually the bugs drove me back to the studio.

At the studio, I returned to "NYC Street." I'd been working on this one right before I had to stop to pack and concentrate on our house move. This is a large one (30"h x 40"w) ... and the greater size creates its own hurdles. It is so much harder to finish a big painting. There's always an area that needs work. (This one still does.) Changes you make to one part of the painting dictate more changes to other parts. Quite a cycle.

Both pieces would fit into my "Painting the Town" show at the Brogue. It's honestly just my state of mind at the moment. Street scenes, New York, Great Falls, home and adventure. Yet, I think the next painting "up" is a beautiful vase of sunflowers that's my ray of sunshine amidst the moving mess in our new abode.

Come to the reception for "Painting the Town" this Sunday, July 25, 2-5pm, at Katie's Coffee at the Old Brogue Irish Pub, 760 Walker Road, Great Falls, VA 22066. The exhibit runs through July 31.

Also, my painting "Rainy Day in NYC" is in the Salmagundi's Club Annual Painting and Sculpture Exhibition which closes this Friday, July 23 after the awards reception, 6-8pm. I'll be there, receiving an award (yea!) at the Salmagundi Club, 47 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10003.

From top: "NYC Street" work in progress, oil on linen, 30"h x 40"w, copyright Jill Banks 2010.
"Totte Bean Shop in Great Falls", sketch & wash pencil with wash on Zecchi's paper (from Florence, Italy), approximately 8.5"h x 5.5"w, copyright Jill Banks 2010. If you're interested in learning this technique, sign up for my August workshops. Get more info on my web site: www.JillBanks.com, go to my classes page.

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Phone: 703.403.7435