From a Study to a Finished Painting

Often I will go out to do some “plein air” painting, that is on-site with my portable easel to do a quick study, a small painting I don’t intend to take to a more refined state. Other times, I’ll have in mind to return to a location to continue to work on a larger piece.

A year ago, on a lovely day, I had just a few hours to paint and so I headed to Carroll Street in Park Slope, a historic brownstone neighborhood in Brooklyn. There are several unusual - in architectural form and detail, and color - houses on the block between Prospect Park and 8th Avenue. In different seasons and times of day, that block presents a seemingly infinite banquet of appealing scenes.

I picked this one:

Stoops with Flower Planters, oil on canvas on panel, 11x14 inches

Several months later, that image kept returning to my mind. I felt compelled to develop that view further and deal with the perspective challenges in more detail.

I decided to “zoom out” to include more stoops to replicate the rhythm of the various arches and stoops in a row. I also wanted to strengthen the contrast of the shadows cast by a nearby tree, and the reflected light in the shadows cast by the staircases.

Also, since I was painting at the end of winter, the bright sunshine of that day and warm colors of the houses had an especially strong appeal.

Orange Houses on Carroll Street
Oil on canvas
12x16 inches

To be honest, the perspective of all those arches and staircases from that side-view was quite the challenge, and the painting underwent several revisions before I was satisfied.

How lucky am I to have these lovely subjects nearby?!