Third Time's a Charm

 MISSOURI LANDSCAPE ART • KANSAS CITY • SKYLINE • URBAN • SKYSCRAPER

Plein Air Study, 6 x 8, oils

This is the first painting I  have ever done three times. Many years ago I worked in North Kansas City and would sometimes take lunch breaks at Water Works Park. It was a cool combination of nature and city. This spring I was thinking about the place and thought it might be a good subject for a painting. I was glad to find the it still there although the trees had grown a bit, making the job of finding an expansive view difficult. Setting up on the edge of a frisbee golf course, I heard guys cry "Fore!" more than once. I told them that I did not mind being hit in the head with a frisbee. The study went well and I knew it  had the makings of a nice piece.

3 Hour Demo, 12 x 12, oils

A few days later I was scheduled to do a live demo at my local gallery, Leawood Fine Arts. Armed with my study and a photo I was ready to go. I decided on a 12 x 12 square format and the demo went well considering the time constraint and having people watch and ask questions. But after staring at it for a few days, I came to the conclusion that I could do better.

City on a Hill, 16 x 16, oils.

For the real deal I went even larger. It was a bit hard to get started but before long it felt like a new painting. This time I changed the composition slightly, emphasizing a path that I had edited from the first two and altering it's course to cut back to the left so that it would not take the viewer out of the picture. I went with even thicker paint and really tried to push the atmospheric distance between the foreground and background. I'm happy with the finished result but feel that I could have pushed it even further.